More Than Meets the Eye
by Palmer4President
Summary: Bill and Karen, picking up right where Day 5 left off.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here's the beginning of my summer project! Although, in my planning, it's getting kind of long, so it could take me longer than the summer to write it all out. Anyway, I digress. This is going to be my take on the beginning of Bill's and Karen's relationship. As I said, I'm not sure how long it's going to go, but the more reviews I get, the more willing I'll be to continue it. So, as always, please review when you're done reading and enjoy!**

**Rating: T for later chapters**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from 24, which belongs to FOX and the creators of the show. Any original characters that appear or are mentioned are mine, though. I haven't based this on anyone else's work- it all came from my mind. **

**Chapter 1**

"What a day," Bill Buchanan muttered to himself as he sat down behind his desk. What a day it had been. From a hostage situation at Ontario Airport to bringing down the President of the United States, the day had been full of surprises. Heck, before today, Bill had thought that Jack Bauer was dead. That seemed like years ago, when in reality, it was only hours ago. _That just goes to show how much can happen in a day,_ Bill thought.

In only one day, CTU had lost some of its best people, and Bill had lost some of his closest friends and colleagues. Edgar Stiles, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler- all of these people had been casualties of the past 24 hours. As sad as Bill was about these deaths, he couldn't help but feel like he had also gained something from the past 24 hours. Someone, more specifically, by the name of Karen Hayes.

Bill wasn't quite sure how he felt about Karen Hayes. Twelve hours ago, when she had come to CTU to take his job, he had wanted nothing more than to hate her and the rest of her team from Homeland Security. He really did. However, as much as he was able to hate her team, there was just something about that hard, determined bureaucrat that he couldn't hate, no matter how hard he tried. Then, as the day continued, he quickly learned to trust her, and even to like her. Now, he felt as if he had known her for much longer than 12 hours.

His desk phone interrupted Bill's thoughts.

"Buchanan," he answered in a relaxed voice. Maybe it was Karen saying that her meeting had been cancelled and she could go out to breakfast after all…

"Bill, he's gone," said the anxious voice of Audrey Raines. It took Bill a second to process what he was hearing.

"Audrey?" he asked uncertainly. "Wait- what are you talking about? Who's gone?"

"Jack." He could hear Audrey crying on the other end of the line. Suddenly, the reality of what she was saying hit him like a ton of bricks. Jack was gone? Why? Where would he go?

"Oh my God, Audrey," was all that Bill could manage. He didn't know what else he could say. "Why don't you come back here to CTU and you can tell me what happened, okay?"

"All right, I'll be there in a few minutes," Audrey managed through tears. Bill hung up the phone and sat down behind his desk. This day had just gotten much longer.

Audrey arrived at CTU, and soon the story of Jack's disappearance began to unfold. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that Bill could do. They checked to see if there had been a satellite in the area at the time, but to no avail. There was no trace of Jack at the scene, and Bill didn't know what else to do. Finally after a few hours of searching, Bill was too tired to continue. Audrey said that she was going to stay, despite Bill's suggestion that she try to get some rest, and she promised to call him if she learned anything new. Before he left, however, Bill had one more phone call to make. He went up to his office and looked up Karen Hayes's cell phone number.

"Hayes," she answered sounding tired.

"Hi Karen, it's Bill Buchanan from CTU," he said somewhat awkwardly. "Are you still at Division?"

"Yes, I just got out of a meeting, why?" Karen was surprised to hear from Bill, but it was not an unwelcome surprise. Over the past day, she had grown to be very fond of CTU's director.

"I was hoping you could pass on a message to Hammond. Jack has gone missing," Bill informed her.

"What? When? How did this happen?" Karen asked all of these at once, and she still had a dozen more floating through her mind. She hadn't known Jack for very long, and frankly, half of the time she didn't trust his judgment. However, she did know that he was an incredibly strong man who did not just disappear within hours without some sort of reason as to why. She also knew that things were looking up for Jack Bauer at the end of the day, and he would not be one to give that up willingly.

"It happened about three hours ago," Bill answered, bringing her out of her thoughts. "We don't know where he is or why. Audrey and I have spent the past hours trying to pick up a trial on him and connect the dots, but nothing has worked."

"How's Audrey doing?" Karen asked, her voice softening. Poor Audrey; Karen could only imagine what she must be going through right now.

"She's doing as well as can be expected. I don't think it's quite sunk in that Jack is gone," Bill replied, his voice also growing quieter. He looked through the glass walls of his office down to where Audrey sat at a station, completely focused on the screen. "Right now, she's determined to find Jack."

"I hope she can," Karen said. "If anyone deserves happiness, it's her and Jack." There was a slight pause on both ends before Karen continued. "Thanks for telling me, Bill. I'll pass the message on to Hammond." Karen almost asked why Bill hadn't called Hammond directly, but thought better of it.

"Thanks."

"One more thing," Karen said before Bill could hang up. "I talked with Vice President Gardner about reversing the CTU chain of command back from Homeland Security to DOD. He agreed that it should be the eventual course of action, but he wants to let things settle for a little while before disrupting things again. Unfortunately, that means that you're going to have to put up with me over at CTU for a while longer," she said slightly jokingly. Bill couldn't help but smile. _Now that's one order from the White House that I think I can live with,_ he thought happily.

"That's not going to be a problem," he said to Karen. "Do you still want me here during that time? You're still the director of CTU, so it's your call."

"Of course. I haven't talked to the Vice President about your reinstatement yet, but even until it becomes official, I need you there. I proved last night that I have no idea how to manage CTU, and you're the one who does know how to."

"Well I'm glad you feel that way. I wasn't quite ready to give up my desk chair yet," Bill joked. "You'd be surprised how attached a person can get to his desk chair. It's more comfortable than you'd think, and it rolls around on those little wheels. It's really a quality piece of furniture, and I'd hate to have to give it up."

Karen couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you get to keep it," she replied, still laughing a little. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bill, and if you hear anything else about Jack, please let me know."

"I will," Bill assured her, the seriousness returning to his voice. "I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up and looked at his closed cell phone for a second. Yes, there was definitely something about Karen Hayes that intrigued him, but he still couldn't quite place a finger on it.

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! As always, I hope you enjoy, and please review when you're done if you get the chance. **

**Chapter 2**

Karen Hayes walked into the building of CTU Los Angeles the same way she had just a few days ago. The difference was that this time she didn't feel like an intruder. Many of the CTU employees still held a grudge against her for trying to disassemble CTU in the first place, but that was getting better. She had told most of them that CTU would be rolled back under CIA jurisdiction soon, which seemed to make most them feel a little better about her being there. Today, she walked into CTU to begin that process.

Bill greeted her the minute she walked into the bullpen. He had quickly become the first person she went to with any question, and she trusted his judgment implicitly. She didn't quite know what it was about him that invited trust so easily, but she couldn't help but trust him.

"Hey Bill," she greeted him, extending her hand. He smiled and shook her hand.

"Hi Karen," he replied. "I have an office set up for you upstairs. If you'll follow me…" He gestured toward the stairs and started showing her to her temporary office. He led her to a slightly out-of-the-way glass-walled room that she could tell wasn't usually in use.

"Well, this is it," Bill said, holding open the glass door for her to enter. "Sorry, I know it's not much."

"Don't worry about it," Karen replied. "If all goes according to plan, I won't be here very long anyway."

"Now, you're sure you don't want to work out of my office? I mean, you are still the director of CTU," Bill reminded her. He wondered briefly why he was even offering to give up his office. When Lynn McGill had come in a few days ago, he would have bent over backwards if it meant that he wouldn't have had to give up his office to that stiff little bureaucrat.

"No, I've already caused enough trouble," Karen assured him. "Thanks, Bill."

"No problem. You should be all set, but if you need anything, just call me or Chloe. She shouldn't have any problems getting you what you need, whether it's on protocol or not," Bill said, giving Karen a knowing look.

"I don't doubt that," she said, raising an eyebrow slightly. At that moment, Bill's cell phone rang, and he had to excuse himself as he headed off to deal with some situation on the floor. As she watched Bill walk down the hallway, Karen couldn't help but smile a little to herself before getting to work.

The week was an extremely slow week by CTU's standards. The country seemed to be taking a breath after the awful events of the previous week. By the time Friday rolled around, Karen had successfully re-instated almost all of CTU's original personnel. However, there were still some huge gaps left by the nerve gas attack, so Friday morning, Karen found herself in the Situation Room with Bill and Chloe trying to fill those gaps.

"Well Bill, I know you probably don't want any of my people still here after this transition is over," Karen told him, "But until you've been able to hold interviews and find replacements for all of those positions, I really don't see any way around it."

"Yes, you're right," Bill agreed. "However, Division does have some people who are interested, so I don't expect we'll need them for very much longer."

"Morris wants to apply for a job," Chloe blurted out. When Bill looked at her skeptically, she defended him. "It's not like he's some hobo off the streets, Mr. Buchanan. He used to work here; he's just taken a little… break since then."

"The question is this- has this little 'break,' as you call it, affected his abilities?" Bill asked, looking directly at Chloe. "I'm willing to give him a second chance if he can handle it, and God knows we need the man power right now. But there is no way that I'm going to hire him if he's not up for the job."

"He's up for the job," Chloe quickly snapped back. She immediately realized her tone and added a quick and apologetic, "Sir." Bill stared at her for a long moment, considering this information. Finally he spoke.

"I would like to speak to him myself first. I'll set up an interview with him in the next week."

"Fine," Chloe huffed slightly. "Also, can we get rid of that Shari woman? Or at least send her back down to section 5; she doesn't belong up in comm."

Karen, who had remained silent as they discussed Morris, spoke up. "Why not? She's got all of the qualifications." Chloe made one of her unique, indescribably annoyed faces as she answered.

"She's insane! She thinks that every male who comes within a ten foot radius of her is trying to assault her. You might want to consider recommending her for a psychiatric evaluation," Chloe stated. She turned to Bill. "I'm serious. You want to stay away from her, sir. She's already got her eye on you." Karen raised an eyebrow, but Bill could only laugh.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Bill asked, clearly amused.

"It means that you brushed her shoulder once, so now she thinks you're some creep who's trying to attack her," Chloe said honestly. She then added as an afterthought, "Which I know you're not."

Bill smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chloe." After a slight pause, "All right, Shari goes back to section 5, and I'll talk to Division about that psychiatric evaluation. Anyone else you are concerned about?" Chloe paused slightly, considering her answer. She directed her next question at Karen.

"Miles won't be coming back, will he?" she asked seriously.

"It wouldn't be like him to come back begging for his job," Karen replied confidently.

"Yeah, well it wasn't like him to erase the Logan recording either, but he still did that," Chloe snapped back at her. Karen looked slightly taken aback by this comment, and Bill quickly tried to intervene.

"Okay Chloe, if that's all you have to offer, then I think we can handle it from here," he said, tacitly dismissing her. Chloe huffed briefly as she picked up her laptop and left for her station without another word. When the door closed behind her, Bill turned to Karen. "I'm sorry about her. Sometimes I wish she had a 'censor' button hidden somewhere in that mind of hers."

"No, that's all right," Karen replied quietly. "She was right. I didn't know Miles as well as I thought I did, and I guess I wouldn't be surprised if he came crawling back wanting a job." Karen paused for a moment, looking down at her folded hands on the table before speaking again. "Every time I've thought about that day, I've thought that maybe everything that happened wouldn't have if I hadn't trusted him. Maybe everything that happened was my fault," she stated, thinking aloud. Had Karen been thinking clearly, she would have realized that it didn't make any sense to be telling this to Bill. However, as she had observed earlier, he seemed to evoke trust in everyone he came in contact with. Talking to him just seemed so natural.

Karen was drawn out of her thoughts when Bill reached over and placed a hand over hers. She looked up at him sitting next to her, surprised by this gesture. His sky-blue eyes offered warmth she had never seen from him.

"None of that was your fault, Karen," he told her firmly, looking into her eyes. "You did everything you could, but Miles betrayed you. Don't you even think about blaming yourself for that." Karen wasn't sure how to respond for a moment, still surprised by his affection. She couldn't begin to tell him how much that meant to her. Suddenly, Karen became aware that her heart rate had probably doubled as Bill's hand covered hers. She tried her best to ignore it.

"Thanks Bill. That means a lot," she said. The corner of Bill's mouth turned up slightly and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before returning to his original position. Karen muttered something about needing to call Division with a status report- an easy excuse to get her out of the room- and Bill accepted it without question. She quickly found her way back to her temporary office and sank into the chair behind her desk.

So she liked Bill Buchanan. He was a very likeable guy. She had yet to meet anyone at CTU who didn't respect him as both an authority figure and an all-around good person. _But you know this is different_, she added to herself. Was it? Sure, she thought Bill was a nice person, but was there more to her feelings for him than that?

Karen looked down at her hands and she could still feel the radiating warmth of Bill's hand over hers. On her left hand, she noticed her wedding ring, an ever-present reminder of her ex-husband. Well, it wasn't officially "ex" until her attorney confirmed Michael's signature on their divorce papers, but he had called her earlier this week, saying he got them in the mail. She could hardly wait until this whole divorce process was finally over, and knowing that it was almost through was a relief. It had moved at glacial pace, but after almost four years of separation and one year of this divorce, her marriage was just about over. Looking down at her wedding band, she wondered why she still carried around that reminder of her failed marriage. When she had moved to Los Angeles four years ago, she had wanted to get away from Michael. She quickly fell into a pattern of long work weeks at the local Homeland Security office, and she decided that she didn't need a man in her life to be content. Even after she and Michael agreed to a divorce a year ago, she continued wearing her wedding ring so that she could avoid awkward questions from her co-workers. She had told herself repeatedly that she had moved on, but it had become rapidly apparent to her after meeting Bill that she still had some work to do.

_I can't move on if I don't take this first step_, she told herself. She took off her wedding ring and placed it in her briefcase.

It took exactly one day for Bill to notice this change.

"You're not wearing your ring," he commented the next afternoon as they were going over reassignment protocols in his office.

"What?"

"You used to wear a wedding ring," he clarified, motioning to her hand. She looked down at her hand, almost as if this were news to her, too. But she saw her empty finger and remembered why it wasn't there.

"Yeah, well, I used to be married too," she said lamely, trying to brush it off. Bill looked like he was about to press the issue when Audrey knocked on his door. Since Jack's disappearance, she had stayed at CTU. Bill had agreed to let her continue using CTU resources to find him, but had told her that he could not focus all of CTU's scarce manpower into her search. He gave Chloe the task of doing whatever Audrey needed to be done, but that was the most he was willing to lose. So far, they had nothing on Jack. Still, Audrey had given him status reports every now and then, so it was no surprise when she knocked on his office door. He motioned her in, and, for the first time in a week, she didn't look defeated. Bill didn't have to wait to find out what brought about this change in her demeanor.

"We think we found him," she immediately informed Bill and Karen. At this, Chloe entered the room behind her, no doubt as the mouth of the evidence. This should have been extremely good news, but there was something about her tone that led Bill to believe otherwise.

"Where?" he asked warily. Audrey hesitated for a moment and looked at Chloe nervously. When Chloe offered no sympathy or explanation, she continued.

"China." It was the only explanation that Bill needed, but it sent him reeling. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if trying to shut out the truth before it could sink in. Karen had heard about Jack's run-in with the Chinese, but it didn't hit nearly as close to home for her. She was the first one to speak.

"What evidence do you have?" she asked. Bill looked up at the two women, waiting for their answer.

"We don't have any real evidence, per say," Chloe told them. "But we were able to find a Chinese container ship that left Los Angeles for Shanghai around the time that Jack disappeared. I did some digging into the port's logs and I found that it was supposed to leave an hour later, but its departure was sped up due to a special request from the Executive Branch."

"Charles Logan," Bill muttered, putting two and two together. "Do you have anything else?"

"I went to the port yesterday morning and asked around to some of the workers," replied Audrey. "I found one witness who saw several Chinese men carrying a large package onto the ship. He said it was roughly the size of a body bag. He didn't mention it to anyone before now because he wasn't supposed to be there at the time."

"So how do we know that Jack is still alive?" Karen asked. "If they were carrying a body bag, who's to say that the body inside was still alive?"

"The Chinese don't want to kill Jack just yet," Bill said to Karen. "They want justice for what happened at the consulate, but they want to see what they can get out of him first. No, if they were carrying a body bag with Jack inside, then he was still alive." Bill looked up at Audrey. "What do you want me to do? I can't start an international incident to get Jack back."

"No, I know, and I'm not asking you to," Audrey explained. "I'm asking you to present this to the President. Finding Jack was still a CTU operation."

Bill sighed. "All right. Send me all the evidence and information you have on this. I'll do my best." Audrey quickly agreed and pulled Chloe with her as they rushed out the door. Karen turned to Bill.

"Do you really think the Chinese did this?" she asked. Bill looked at her evenly.

"It makes more sense than anything else. A year and a half ago, I was here when Cheng Zhi from the Chinese consulate came to CTU to investigate. He was almost as determined to get justice on whoever led the raid as he was to pin it on Jack. I wouldn't put this past him."

"Do you think President Gardner will try to get him back?" This question hung in the air for a long moment before Bill answered.

"I don't know," he said quietly.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**And chapter 3 is up! Sorry it's kind of short, but I will be posting another (much longer) chapter later in the week, so stay tuned! **

**I realized that I forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter, so sorry, and here it is- _I don't own 24 or any of its characters, as those all belong to FOX and the show's creators. I haven't based this on anyone else's work- it all came from my mind._**

**Chapter 3**

The next afternoon was the first time that the newly-sworn-in President Gardner was available to meet with Bill and Karen. The pair was walking into the Situation Room to begin the video conference when Audrey walked in behind Bill.

"What are you doing, Audrey?" Bill asked softly. "You shouldn't be here when this happens." Audrey looked at him like he was speaking nonsense.

"Bill, I found this. I brought it to you. I should be here," she said trying to remain professional. Bill knew that this wasn't why she wanted to be there, though.

"You being here is not going to raise the chances of Gardner agreeing," Bill told her. "It'd be a lot better for you if you sat this one out." Bill knew how much she wanted to be there, but he was afraid that Gardner wouldn't agree. He didn't want Audrey to know much of a long shot this was, which would become apparent just minutes into this video conference. He wanted her to still have something to hope for.

"I can handle being here, if that's what you're saying," she argued, her voice rising.

"Audrey, I know what you're trying to do, but I don't want you in here during this," he told her, his tone of voice suggesting that the debate was over. When her face fell slightly, Bill's voice softened a little. "We're going to do everything possible to get Jack out," he assured her. Audrey glanced over at Karen, who nodded in agreement with Bill's statement.

"Fine," Audrey agreed. She looked back up at Bill. "But I want to know the second you know of a decision."

"You have my word; you will be the first to know," he promised. He then ushered her out the door before sitting down next to Karen and waiting for the conference to begin. Soon, Gardner's image appeared on the screen in front of them.

"Good morning Karen, Bill," he said.

"Mr. President," they answered in unison.

"So, what brings us here this morning?" he asked casually. Karen was the one to explain the situation to him.

"This concerns one of our agents, Jack Bauer, who, as you have been informed, went missing shortly after his release from custody last week," Karen said. "We have reason to believe that he did not disappear on his own free will, as we had been assuming until this point. We now have evidence to suggest that he was abducted by the Chinese government."

"What kind of evidence do we have?"

"We found a container ship heading for Shanghai that left Los Angeles within the timeframe of Jack Bauer's disappearance," Bill answered. "Its departure was expedited with a direct order from Charles Logan. Witnesses also say that they saw several Chinese men carrying on what looked to be a body on the ship."

"And you think that this body was Bauer's?" Gardner asked.

"It makes the most sense, sir. Bauer disappears without warning at the same time that the Chinese, who have been looking for revenge for the death of their consul 18 months ago, smuggle a body out of this country with the help of Charles Logan, who would also love to see Bauer out of the way. It's just too much to write off as coincidence." President Gardner paused for a moment, considering his options, before speaking again.

"Bill, I know how much this agent means to CTU, but there is no way that I can start an international crisis for the sake of one man," Gardner told him. "As far as I see it, the Chinese want revenge for their consul's death, and they will either get it on Bauer or the entire United States government. I cannot let it be the government, as it is my duty to protect this country."

"Mr. President, you should consider peaceful negotiations for Bauer's release," Karen suggested. "Prisoner exchange. There is any number of diplomatic options."

"Yes, Karen, but the Chinese still want someone to take the blame. If we are to leave the United States government out of this entirely, we have to look as if we're willing to let the Chinese take revenge on Bauer. If we were to argue, they would question why we're arguing. At that point, whatever we say to defend ourselves won't matter because they will already be suspicious of our involvement in the consulate raid."

"But sir, surely you've read this man's file. Jack Bauer has a long history of service to his country," Bill argued. He could sense that they were quickly losing this argument, and he was trying to pull out all of the stops. "Every citizen of this country owes their life to this man. We can't abandon him now, the only time in his long history of service that he has required our help."

"I can think of no better way for Bauer to serve his country than to give his life to spare it from war," Gardner stated. That was when both Karen and Bill knew it- they had lost. "Now, if that's all you have for me, then my decision stands. We leave Jack Bauer with the Chinese." Karen paused for a moment.

"That's all, sir. Thank you," she said before pressing a button, cutting the video feed. She looked over at Bill, who was still gazing despondently at the blank screen. A thick silence hung in the air between them for a minute before Karen finally spoke.

"You did everything possible, Bill," she assured him. He glanced over at her briefly.

"Yeah," he whispered, although his posture suggested that he did not agree. Karen wanted to do something, but she didn't know what she could do for him. Finally, Bill stood up from his chair.

"I should go and tell Audrey," he muttered. He excused himself and left the room to find her. Through the glass walls of the Situation Room, Karen could see Bill approach Audrey. She looked up at Bill expectantly, but all he could do was look down to the floor apologetically. At that point, Audrey's face changed from expectant to angry to upset. She reached like she was going to hit Bill, but he easily caught her blow and let her collapse in his arms. She broke down in his firm grasp, sobbing into his chest while he supported her and did his best to calm her down, trying to steer her towards one of the offices surrounding the bullpen. Karen's heart melted at the sight. She could hardly imagine what that woman was feeling at the moment. However, at the same time, Karen also couldn't help but wish that she was the one in Bill's arms.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4 everyone! For those of you whom I haven't told, I will be going away for a few weeks soon, so this is going to be my last update for a while. Rest assured, I plan to continue this story when I get back, but it will be a while, so please, hang in there for the next few weeks and I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Thanks again for all of the reviews, and please, if you get the chance, just drop me a review when you finish reading. I would love to come back and find that I have tons of reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from 24, which belongs to FOX and the creators of the show. Any original characters that appear or are mentioned are mine, though. I haven't based this on anyone else's work- it all came from my mind. **

**Chapter 4**

The day after President Gardner decided to leave Jack in China, Audrey left CTU for Washington. Her father was being released from the hospital, and she had nothing left to do at CTU. She told Bill that she was going to continue her efforts to get Jack out of China, and he wished her the best of luck. He assured her that, if she needed CTU's help, he would make sure it was there for her. After she left, the main focus around CTU turned to the final transition back from Homeland Security to CIA jurisdiction.

Finally, two weeks after the attacks, CTU found itself back under CIA's chain of command. As her last task, Karen had to secure one last position: Special Agent in Charge. She was meeting with President Gardner to present her recommendation of reinstating Bill to the post. Really, this meeting was going to be a formality, as she had been letting Bill make all of the important decisions for the past two weeks. He had been working from his office and she was only there to make suggestions and sign off on his decisions. Nonetheless, this was a formality that she needed to ensure happened.

The meeting started off according to the way Karen had known it would happen. The President asked for her recommendation, Karen recommended Bill for the job, and she gave her reasoning. The President questioned her on a few points, but she easily countered them and was feeling pretty good about how the meeting was going by the end. However, a surprise came next, when President Gardner was supposed to agree with her recommendation.

"I still don't think that Bill Buchanan is the best person for the job," President Gardner said stubbornly, shocking Karen almost speechless. There was a heavy silence in the air as Karen hurried to regain her footing.

"But sir, may I ask why?" she managed.

"Well, as stated in the document signed by Audrey Raines and proposed by you two weeks ago, he is the reason that mistakes were made at CTU."

"Yes, that's what the document said, but that's not true," Karen argued. "Bill Buchanan has an excellent track record at CTU. In fact, the entire staff has been more productive in the past year and a half under his direction than under the previous director, Erin Driscoll. Not to mention the loyalty that he has inspired in his staff. Not a single one of them would tell you that anything that happened two weeks ago was his fault."

"I'm not interested in what his staff would say, Karen, I'm interested in what you and Ms. Raines said two weeks ago when you were in the thick of the crisis and it was freshest in your minds," Gardner told her somewhat angrily. "Bill Buchanan will not be the director of CTU Los Angeles. Granted, I don't mind him staying on until Division can find a replacement, but I want you to call them and put them on the search immediately. Understood?"

Karen had never seen Gardner so inflexible on something, and for a second she wondered if the stress of the office had gotten to his head. She wanted to push this issue- he was acting as if he hadn't heard a word she had said and it was starting to frustrate her. However, Karen realized that his response had left her no room for argument.

"Yes, Mr. President," she said weakly before hanging up the phone. Karen had to fight the urge to call him back to yell at him, but she quickly realized that yelling at the President of the United States would get her nowhere but unemployed. She picked up the phone again, but this time, she dialed Mike Novick's number.

"Novick."

"Mike? It's Karen Hayes, from Homeland Security in Los Angeles." She had known Mike from her time at the FBI in Washington, and if anyone could get through to the President, it was Mike.

"Hi Karen, what can I do for you?"

"It's the President, Mike. He's not taking my suggestion to reinstate Bill Buchanan as director of CTU. I'm not calling to question his authority, but he called me here to assess the situation at CTU. Now he won't listen to a word of my assessment. It doesn't make any sense; he seemed like he had made up his mind before he even talked to me. I don't mind if that's how he wants to do things, but he shouldn't be asking for my recommendation if he's going to shut it down before he's even heard it. Do you think you could talk to him?" Karen was not one to ask for favors, but she needed this, although she couldn't explain why she had such strong feelings in the matter. After all, it wasn't even her job.

"I can talk to him, but the President is trying to assert his authority," Mike explained. "He's been getting quite a bit of static from the Hill. They don't think that he's taking an aggressive enough stance on homeland security in the wake of these terrorist attacks, so now he's trying to let everyone know who's in charge."

"I don't care what kind of static he's getting from Congress," Karen argued hotly. "Bill Buchanan is the best person for the post, and the President needs to realize that. CTU would be lucky to be half as effective without Bill as the director as it is with him in that position."

"I agree with you, but I'm just saying, the President might not want to listen right now. I'll talk to him and see what I can do, but I suggest you tell Bill. At least that way he'll be expecting if it comes."

Karen sighed. "Fine. Thanks for trying, Mike. Give me a call as soon as you talk to him."

"I will." With that, the line went dead and Karen hung up her cell phone. How on Earth was she going to tell Bill that he wasn't being reinstated? Over the past two weeks, she had been operating under the assumption that Bill would be the director when she left. Now she was supposed to tell him that it wasn't true? It would break his heart.

Karen spent several minutes pacing her office and contemplating how to break the news to Bill. Finally, she took a steadying breath and slowly approached his office, although she was still unsure of what she was going to say. She knocked on the door to find him standing by his desk reading over some report. At her knock, he looked up and motioned her inside. He removed his reading glasses and placed them in his jacket pocket before looking up at her.

"Karen, what is it?" he asked lightly, waiting for her answer. Karen opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Upon receiving silence, Bill prompted again, this time more seriously, "Is everything all right?"

At this point, Karen had no choice but to speak. "No," she answered shortly, unable to meet his gaze. "Everything's not all right."

"What's wrong?"

Karen forced herself to look at him. "President Gardner does not agree with my recommendation to reinstate you as director of CTU," she said, trying to stay professional. Confusion crossed Bill's face and he just stared at Karen, hoping to find an answer written in her expression. Karen shifted slightly under his scrutiny.

"Why not?" was the only question he could ask.

"Apparently, the President does not feel that there is enough evidence to excuse you from the accusations made two weeks ago," she answered stoically. Realization crossed Bill's face, and his gaze immediately hardened.

"The accusations that you made," he said, his tone now turning accusatory. Hurt briefly flashed across Karen's face, but she quickly hid it.

"Bill, I tried everything to get him to change his mind, but he's trying to make some sort of a political statement," she said apologetically. "I've got a call in to Mike Novick, who's going to try and talk some sense into him, but he said there's no guarantee that that's going to change the President's mind." Bill huffed and walked away from her, moving toward the glass wall overlooking the bullpen. There was a long pause before Bill spoke again, his back still to Karen.

"Have you known that this would be the end result for the past two weeks?" he asked coolly. Bill's question was a verbal jab that effectively tore at Karen even more. She couldn't believe he would think that of her.

"No, of course not," she immediately defended. "I have been working under the impression that the President would agree with me. I never imagined that he wouldn't." Bill gave no reply, and Karen decided that it was best to leave. She wanted to say something to Bill before leaving, and she opened her mouth to do so. However, no words seemed adequate, and she silently excused herself.

Bill knew that she had tried as hard as she could to get him reinstated. He didn't doubt that this was just some botched political agenda of Hal Gardner's. Still, he loved this job more than anything. Bill didn't know what he would do without this job.

When Bill turned around to confront Karen, she was no where to be seen. For a moment, he contemplated letting her go, but then a part of him told him that he would never forgive himself if he stayed angry at her. Over the past few weeks, Karen Hayes had become someone very special to him. He had come to the conclusion that he felt _something_ for her, although what 'something' was, he wasn't entirely sure. However, he did know that he wanted to find out.

Bill left his office in search of Karen. She wasn't in her office and she wasn't down in the Situation Room, so Bill started searching the back halls of CTU. Five minutes later, he found her sitting on one of the couches in a lounge by the IT department. She was sipping a cup of coffee when he entered the room. She looked up at him curiously as he opened the door and entered the room.

"Bill," she said somewhat stiffly, nodding in greeting. Bill sat down next to her on the couch.

"Karen, I'm sorry," he stated sincerely, looking over at her. "I didn't mean to sound accusatory. I know you tried your best to get my job back, and I'm truly grateful for that. Thank you." Karen's eyes connected with Bill's briefly, and she couldn't help but smile a little.

"That's the last thing I expected you to say when you came in here," she told him honestly. Bill wasn't quite sure what to say, but luckily Karen continued without expecting an answer from him. "You don't owe me an apology, Bill. If anything, I owe you one. When I first came in here, I was determined to get you out." She chuckled dryly and looked at Bill. "I guess I did my job a little too well, huh?" she asked rhetorically. Suddenly, she found that she couldn't look at him, and instead keenly studied the mug in her hands. "I'm just sorry that I can't undo the mess I've created. You have every right to hate me, Bill, and to blame me for losing your job."

"Karen, look at me," Bill directed. For a second, Karen looked as though she'd rather not, but she did anyway.

"I don't hate you, Karen," he said sincerely. "I tried to hate you when you came in here, but that didn't work out very well." The corner of Karen's mouth turned up slightly, and she paused a moment before responding.

"How can you not hate me?" she asked seriously. "It's my fault you didn't get your job back, and it's my fault that you don't have your job in the first place."

"There are some things in life that you can't control. You had your orders and you did your job. I can't fault you for that. If anything, I respect you more for that."

"I don't deserve your respect. I didn't do a single thing right that day, from firing you to trusting Miles. I have made more mistakes at CTU than I ever could have accused you of," Karen confessed.

"God, Karen, do you blame yourself for world hunger too?" Bill asked. At this, he reached an arm around her and pulled her into his embrace. This move surprised Karen, and she was about to protest, but there was something comforting about being in his arms. Wrapped in his strong embrace, Karen could feel herself break down. She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed, letting out everything she had bottled up for two weeks. Her guilt for ruining things at CTU, the betrayal she felt from Miles, and the horrible truths that she had learned that day- everything spilled out through her tears as Bill held on to her and rubbed small circles on her back. He firmly held her against him, whispering soothing words in her ear as she cried. After several minutes when Karen finally ran out of tears, she realized her position and pulled away. She quickly wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Bill," she muttered.

"Sorry for what? Being human?" Bill asked softly. He tucked a stray piece of hair that had fallen from her tight bun behind her ear. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Karen. About anything." Karen smiled up at Bill.

"Thank you," she whispered sincerely. Bill smiled at her, his hand lingering by her face as his thumb gently brushed across the corner of her mouth. Slowly, he brought his lips down to meet hers in a soft kiss. Karen subconsciously leaned into him and he brought his hand around to the back of her head, deepening the kiss. They both tried to gauge the other's response as they moved together in a cautious dance, neither quite sure of where they were going. It was only the ringing of the phone that startled them apart, and the reality of their surroundings suddenly came crashing down around them.

"Ms. Hayes? I have the President for you on line one," said an analyst over the intercom. Karen looked down at the phone, her brain taking a moment to process this, among other, information. Next to her, Bill had moved over on the sofa slightly, distancing himself from Karen a little. She made sure to avoid eye contact with him. The pair looked like two kindergarteners who had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and any other time they might have found this amusing. Now, however, Karen's only action was to press the intercom button.

"Patch him through," she said, her breathing slightly shorter. She cleared her throat, trying to put her "professional" voice back on.

"Karen," the President stated in greeting.

"Mr. President," she replied, doing her best to concentrate solely on this conversation. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I'm afraid I have made a severe lapse of judgment," President Gardner said. Karen's mind immediately started whirling in excitement, and she could feel Bill next to her tense a little, clearly listening to the conversation. "I should have initially agreed with your recommendation to reinstate Bill Buchanan as director of CTU Los Angeles. I apologize for my previous decision, and please pass on my apologies to Bill Buchanan as well." For the first time since their kiss Karen looked up at Bill, and she saw him smiling down at the phone.

"I will, Mr. President," she said, still looking at Bill. He glanced up at her and his smile widened. Karen couldn't help the swelling feeling in her chest that she felt while looking at him, and she let a smile break across her face as well.

"Thank you for all of the hard work you have done there for the past few weeks, Karen," the President continued. "You will be sure to receive your share of credit for your role in bringing down the terrorists."

"With all due respect, sir, the majority of the credit belongs to Bill Buchanan and his team here at CTU," Karen replied, looking back down at the phone. "I'm afraid I cannot take any credit."

"Well, wherever that credit belongs, you have done a great job there."

"Thank you, Mr. President." With that, the line when dead and Karen pressed the intercom button again. Before she could say anything to Bill, he had enfolded her again in his embrace, which she eagerly returned.

"Thank you so much, Karen," he whispered.

"Don't thank me. Thank Mike Novick. He did the job I couldn't do." Bill pulled away to look at her.

"Are you always this self-depreciating?" he asked. Karen let out a quiet laugh, although it was not lost on Bill that she never did answer the question. A moment of silence passed between the two before Bill decided to bring up the other subject that was hanging in the air between them.

"Karen, about what happened before," he started.

"Bill-" Karen interrupted, only to be cut off by Bill.

"I shouldn't have forced myself on you. I'm really sorry," he said sincerely looking up at her. Karen quickly stammered a response.

"Please, Bill, don't worry about it. I-" Karen paused and looked down at the floor, searching for words. "I'm glad it happened," she finished, turning her gaze up at him.

For a moment, Bill looked as if he didn't know what to say. A quiet "Oh" was the only response he gave as he processed this information. The pair sat in an awkward silence for a second as they both tried to figure out their next move.

"So would you-" Bill started, only to trail off as Karen looked back up at him. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Would you like to go out to dinner some time? I still haven't made good on that rain check you asked for." Karen couldn't help the grin that was slowly forming across her face.

"I'd love to," she told him. A smile stretched across Bill's face, much like when he had asked her to breakfast a few weeks ago. Karen's grin widened, and she decided to take some initiative. "I'm not doing anything tonight," she told him lightly, and Bill quickly read between the lines.

"Okay, uh, do you want me to pick you up around 7?" he asked.

"Sounds great. Where do you want to go?"

"I'll surprise you," Bill said mysteriously, his crystal blue eyes twinkling in a way Karen had never seen before. Before she could answer, Bill's cell phone rang, calling him back to the floor. They quickly agreed on seven o'clock and Bill hurried off. Karen took another sip from her mug and looked at the door that Bill had just left through.

"Somehow, you never fail to surprise me, Bill Buchanan," Karen muttered, although quite aware that he couldn't hear her. She could hardly believe it. Somehow, she had managed to get a date with Bill Buchanan.

The rest of the day passed slower than either thought possible. After what seemed like every five minutes, Karen found herself looking back at her watch. She hardly spoke to Bill for the rest of the day, but when she did it was mostly professional. It wasn't until 5:30 that she told him that she was leaving for the day.

"I'll see you soon," he replied, smiling somewhat knowingly. She returned his grin and left for home to prepare for their date.

**TBC**

**A/N: I promise to give you guys a nice long chapter about their date when I get back. The more reviews, the longer it will be! ;) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Aaaand, I'm back with chapter 5! A million thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; it was great to come back and see so many reviews. As promised, this chapter is a pretty long one, so enjoy and don't forget to review when you're done!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from 24, which belongs to FOX and the creators of the show. Any original characters that appear or are mentioned are mine, though. I haven't based this on anyone else's fan fic work- it all came from my mind. **

**Chapter 5**

Somehow, the next hour and a half passed in a blur for Karen. After one of the most excruciatingly long days of work, the time right before her date with Bill flew by at almost lightening speed. Before she knew it, Karen found herself sitting in Bill's Toyota Highlander, chatting casually about nothing in particular.

"So, where are we going?" she asked Bill lightly.

"How does Italian sound?"

"Perfect."

"Good. There's a small part of town up here that has quite a few Italian restaurants and bakeries up and down the street. I thought we could find something there," Bill told her.

"Really? I've never seen any such place," Karen commented. Bill grinned over at her.

"That doesn't surprise me- hardly anyone has. When I lived in New York City, Little Italy was practically my second home. I grew up on loads of Italian food, and now everywhere I go I always try to find the Italian restaurants nearby."

"'Buchanan' doesn't sound like a very Italian name," Karen noted curiously.

"Believe me, that didn't stop my parents from trying to make it one." The two continued talking as Bill found a parking space along the side of the street. He parked the car and the pair began to walk up the street.

"There's a really nice place up here," Bill told her, motioning down the street. Karen agreed and they walked down the sidewalk. As they walked by various eateries, they passed by one that advertised "Authentic New York Style Pizza." This sparked curiosity in Karen, who turned to Bill.

"Bill, you said that you used to live in New York, right?" she asked. When Bill nodded in the affirmative, she continued, "What makes a pizza 'New York Style'?" At this, Bill stopped walking and turned to her.

"Wait, you don't know what New York style pizza is?" he asked seriously. This immediately made Karen nervous. Was questioning your date's home town some dating faux pas that she had unknowingly broken? She timidly shook her head. For a second, Bill looked as if he didn't want to believe her. "You mean you've never had real pizza?" he asked incredulously. At this, Karen got slightly defensive.

"No, of course I've had pizza," she defended. Bill shook his head.

"No, you haven't had real pizza until you've had good New York style pizza," he informed her. "Come on, this calls for an intervention." Bill took her hand and started to lead her back to the small restaurant advertising the New York style pizza- Romano's Delicatessen.

"Wait, what about the place down there?" Karen asked, slightly confused. Bill looked back at her and shook his head seriously.

"That can wait for another night. Right now, you are going to get a true, New York experience," Bill said. Karen might have been nervous of Bill's serious demeanor had it not been for the slight twinkle in his crystal blue eyes, indicating that he was enjoying this game. Before Karen could ask how she could have a New York experience in Los Angeles, Bill led her though the door to the restaurant.

When Karen walked through the door, her first thought was that she hoped that the food was better than the atmosphere. It wasn't that it was dirty, but the owners certainly didn't go to any great lengths to make it look up-scale. There was a small TV on the wall that had a New York Yankees game playing on it. The walls were covered in New York memorabilia, from Broadway posters to a picture of Babe Ruth hanging by the register. Karen wasn't one to judge on looks alone, but it did look like the kind of place that she tended to avoid at all costs.

"I know what you're thinking, but trust me, the food makes it worth it," Bill said, reading he thoughts exactly. Karen was about to ask if he'd been here before when the man behind the counter came into view.

"Bill! How's it goin' buddy?" he called out over the small crowd that was gathered around the register. He was a handsome, but slightly balding, guy who was probably around her own age, Karen noted. He sported a Yankees t-shirt under his flour-covered apron. He shuffled over to the side and reached out a hand, which Bill gladly shook.

"Hey Greg, how's business?" Bill asked.

"Not bad, not bad," Greg replied, smiling widely. His gaze shifted from Bill over to Karen. "So, has the lonely secret agent finally come in here with a date?" he asked Bill, winking out of the corner of his eye at Karen. She grinned. Greg had an infectious smile that seemed to radiate to everyone within talking distance of him. Bill seemed to not be phased by Greg's question.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. Greg, this is Karen Hayes. Karen, Greg Romano, the owner of this place," Bill introduced. Karen reached to shake Greg's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," she told him, still smiling.

"Believe me, the pleasure's all mine," Greg replied sincerely. He jabbed a thumb back at Bill. "I've been trying to set this stubborn guy up with a date for what seems like years, but this is the first time I've actually seen him in the company of a woman. Congratulations." Bill only rolled his eyes as Greg said this, and Karen couldn't help but laugh.

"All right, if you're done trying to educate Karen on my love life, we would like to order some pizza," Bill quickly dismissed. He and Karen ordered the smallest pizza on the menu (which, Bill assured her, was still larger than any other "small" pizza she had ever seen) and took a seat at one of the tables.

"So, you must come here often," Karen commented.

"Yeah, I don't live too far away, so I'm always coming down here for take out." Karen nodded. She remembered Bill's house being close to here. Two weeks ago, she had discovered the address when Chloe had been hiding out there for a few hours. Of course, she really didn't have a good excuse as to why she remembered the address two weeks after the fact. She told herself that it was because she had a good memory for details.

"Well, it looks like a nice place," she said, not sure what else she could say about Romano's. A smile twisted across Bill's face.

"No it doesn't. You just don't want to say otherwise," he teased, calling her bluff. Karen opened her mouth to protest, but when she opened it, she didn't know what to say. Bill laughed. "It's okay, I'm not offended," he assured her. "I know it doesn't look like much, but you've never had a New York pizza before, and this is the best place to get it. The people are pretty nice too."

Karen decided to change the subject a little. "So what else have I missed out on if I haven't lived in New York?" she asked curiously.

Bill thought for a moment. "Insane taxi drivers," he replied jokingly.

"Wow, it's a shame I haven't been there," Karen replied sarcastically. Bill's look turned questioning.

"You've never been to New York City?"

"I have briefly. I mean, I used to go there for a weekend or so every now and then when I lived in Washington, but I've never really seen the city as much as I would like to." Bill nodded.

"It's a beautiful city. If you ever get the chance, it's well worth a visit," he informed her.

"Well, if I'm to visit New York City, I'm probably going to have to go with someone who knows it well," Karen replied somewhat shyly, unable to meet Bill's gaze. Bill read between the lines and his heart soared. He decided to play it cool, though.

"You're in luck. I happen to know a guy who would love to go with you," he replied seriously.

"I'll have to call this guy when I decide to go," Karen said, looking up at him and raising and eyebrow.

"Done." A smile spread across Karen's face. She could hardly believe this was happening. She decided to take this opportunity to get to know more about the ever-secretive Bill Buchanan.

"So, are you a native New Yorker?" she asked casually.

"Yes. Well, Connecticut, actually, but we lived close enough to the city that I always considered it my home. I almost went to NYU, I loved it so much. However, I got in to Brown and decided to try something that wasn't in New York. I thought it would be a nice change of pace."

"Was it?"

Bill smiled. "I loved Brown. It was a great school, and I was thrilled to go there. However, when I graduated, I got a job offer from CTU New York. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. The pay was all right, it was back in New York, and it was a great opportunity for someone right out of college. So, I moved back to the city, and since then, I've been shuffling around the CTU network," Bill finished, taking a sip of his drink. "What about you? You mentioned living in Washington. Is that where you're from?"

"Originally, I'm from Baltimore. I grew up as the youngest of four with three older brothers, which was pretty rough at times. I was always trying to prove how tough I was to them, which I guess is why I decided to work for the FBI." Bill chuckled softly at this confession.

"So you've had that tough outer shell of yours from birth?" he asked jokingly. Karen tried to glare at him, but the smile in her eyes kept it from looking too serious. Before she could comment, Bill quickly added, "I'm just kidding. I can tell that you're not that professional person all of the time." Karen raised an amused eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"So what would you say that I am when I'm not all professional?"

Bill had to pause for a moment and consider his answer. "You want to know the truth?" he asked. Karen nodded and he continued. "I don't know. You seem to be hiding that pretty well, but I know I want to find out what you're hiding." Karen could feel a blush creeping up her face.

"How do you know you'll like what you see when you find out?" she asked carefully.

"I trust my instincts," he replied casually. His answer made Karen's heart flutter, if only for a brief second. Before either could say anything more, their pizza arrived.

"Oh my God, this is a small?" Karen asked incredulously. Bill grinned at the stunned look on her face.

"I told you it would be big," he said, passing her a plate. "True New York pizza is very large, has thin crust, and is home made. You'll never look at pizza the same way again." Greg, who had brought out their pizza, immediately froze and turned to Bill.

"Wait, Bill, you brought in a pizza virgin to my restaurant?" he asked. When Bill's only answer was to look at him in a what-else-could-I-do? manner, Greg turned to Karen, who started to wish that she hadn't applied blush today, and smiled.

"You never forget your first time," he said, winking playfully before turning to leave. "Enjoy, you two." Karen immediately took a sip of her drink, hoping to hide her slightly flushed face. Bill, however, seemed to take no notice of it and took a piece of pizza.

The meal passed pleasantly. Bill taught Karen how to eat pizza like a New Yorker ("You have to fold it down the middle. There's no other way to do it."), and soon they were flirting and chatting happily about anything that came to their minds. Soon, the topic of their conversation shifted to past relationships. Karen went first, as she felt like she owed Bill an explanation of the note in her file at Division that said "married."

"Legally, I'm still married," she started. "However, my husband and I have been separated for four years. We started working on getting a divorce last year, and it's almost coming to a close."

"Why the separation?"

"It hadn't worked for a while. Really, we only stayed together for the sakes of our children."

"You have children?" Bill asked curiously. Karen nodded.

"Two. Ryan and Stephanie are twins, and they're both 22 right now. They just graduated college in the spring. They're the only reason that I can look back on my marriage with Michael and be proud of something. Really, I should have just named them Pride and Joy when they were born, but I figured they would give me a lot of grief for that when they were teenagers," Karen said jokingly. "Anyway, balancing between raising two children and work has always been a struggle for me. I did pretty well until the twins were in their early teens, which is when I started moving up the ladder at the FBI. Things just started falling apart from there. Hours got longer and I got more and more engrossed in my work. Michael never understood my work, and he could never fully appreciate the stress it put on people. We had sort of drifted apart, but my getting a promotion only sped up that process. We struggled through it until the kids graduated high school, but after that, there was really no point in continuing our act." Karen smiled sadly. "So, the year that Ryan and Steph went off to college, I started looking for a position that was as far away from Washington as I could get. Homeland Security offered me the best one, and I figured that Los Angeles was far enough away from DC. Last year, we decided that we were better off apart, so we got started on the divorce. And the rest, I suppose, is history." Karen finished her story with satisfaction.

"How did your kids take it?" Bill asked. Karen shrugged.

"As well as can be expected. I think that Stephanie was hit by it the hardest. We announced it around the same time that Ryan got engaged to his high school sweetheart, so he had other things on his mind. I don't know if Stephanie's ever gotten over the split, though." Karen sighed. "I told her that, if she ever gets in a very serious relationship that goes bad, she'll understand. Until then, I can expect her to remain upset." Karen shook her head. "Enough about my complicated life. What about you Bill? Ever been married?"

"Nope. Never engaged, never married, no kids. I've only ever had one relationship that I thought might make it that far, but it never did."

"What kept it from going there, if you don't mind me asking?"

Bill hesitated for only the briefest of seconds. "Amy was killed by a drunk driver about three years after we started seeing each other."

"Bill, I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Karen said softly. He shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I've had a while to come to terms with it." Bill paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts before continuing. "Anyway, Amy and I went to high school together. When we graduated, we lost touch with each other until our fifteenth reunion. From there, we reconnected and started seeing each other. After a year, we moved in together, and things went great for a while. We even discussed marriage, but I was afraid that it wouldn't work with my job at CTU. That's when things started going down hill. She was insistent that we give it a try, that the only thing that mattered was that we loved each other. In the end, though, that wasn't the only thing that mattered. She didn't understand what kinds of stress the job puts on people, and she didn't understand why I had to put my personal life on hold until national security would allow me to deal with it. We drifted apart for a little under a year until one night I was working late and she decided to come to CTU. At least, I think that's where she was going; the accident took place about two blocks away from CTU. Over the years, I've realized that she was probably coming to tell me that it wasn't going to work. A lot of her belongings were found in the car with her- stuff that she never would have taken if she hadn't been leaving. However, that's when she was hit straight in the driver-side door by a drunk driver. She died later that night at the hospital." Bill stopped for a moment. Karen knew better than to ask him to continue; the pain that this story caused Bill was clear.

"You don't have to continue, Bill," she said quietly, but Bill shook his head.

"No, it feels good to talk about it," he said, clearing his throat before continuing. "Anyway, after she died, I immediately forgot all of the disagreements we had had. I started blaming myself for what happened to her- if I hadn't worked at CTU, if we hadn't argued the night before, if I had just asked her to marry me- the list went on. It took years for me to be able to realize that our relationship wasn't going to work anyway. Still, I mourned her death for a long time. Since then, I've only had a few insignificant relationships, but that's really it. However," he said, his tone becoming much more playful, "I suppose it could all be considered a good thing in the end. Otherwise, I would never have asked out the director of Homeland Security."

From there, the conversations turned lighter. They discussed everything they could think of from books to movies to the most outrageous thing that they had heard Chloe say in the past few weeks. Finally, after several hours, Greg had to tell them that he was closing up. The couple strolled out of Romano's and slowly made their way back to Bill's car. Bill carefully reached over and took Karen's hand in his, receiving a slight jolt when she firmly returned the grasp. They walked to the car in a contented silence, both of them simply enjoying the other's company.

Twenty minutes later, Bill found himself walking Karen up to her apartment. As much as he told himself that he shouldn't be nervous, he couldn't get rid of the butterflies that seemed to have taken over his insides. What was it about this woman that could so easily turn him into a stuttering, nervous mess?

As they reached Karen's door, she turned to Bill and reached for both of his hands.

"Thank you, Bill. I had a wonderful time," she told him.

"I'm glad. I did too," he replied. "I'm sorry it probably wasn't the kind of place you wanted to go on a date tonight. I promise I'll take you to a real restaurant next time."

Karen's heart leapt at that phrase. _Next time._

"No, I really enjoyed it," she said sincerely. She changed her expression and smiled up at him playfully as she continued, "But I might just have to take you up on that offer for a 'next time'."

Bill grinned and brought a hand up to her face, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. His hand lingered there, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. Karen slowly closed her eyes, lost in the feeling of his contact. Bill removed his hand and placed a tender kiss on her cheek where his thumb had just been. When her eyes re-opened, they connected with Bill's crystal blue orbs and time seemed to stop.

"I'll call you," Bill whispered. Quickly, he nervously stammered, "I, I mean, if that's-"

"Perfectly fine with me," Karen finished for him. Bill smiled and the nervousness left his expression.

"Great." They stood there somewhat awkwardly for a second, neither quite sure what was an appropriate good-bye. Finally, Karen leaned forward a little, encouraging Bill, who met her halfway and placed a soft kiss on her awaiting lips. It was a sweet, lingering kiss that warmed them both. All too soon, however, it was over.

"Good night, Karen."

"Good night, Bill." And with that, Karen somewhat reluctantly entered her apartment. She watched Bill until the elevator doors closed behind him. She shut her own door and leaned against it, her mind replaying moments from the evening. Suddenly, she became aware that she was grinning uncontrollably. It was then that a realization struck her; she was falling for Bill Buchanan, and fast.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**All right, this looks like it could be the last update for a little while. With the whole back-to-school thing, my life has been utterly crazy, so maybe in a few weeks or so when things finally settle back down, I can get back to writing more. Until then, enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from 24, which belongs to FOX and the creators of the show. Any original characters that appear or are mentioned are mine, though. I haven't based this on anyone else's fan fic work- it all came from my mind. **

**Chapter 6**

"What an interesting movie," Karen said, smiling up at Bill. Several weeks had passed since their first date, and they had spent the time growing their relationship. They quickly settled into a pattern of having dinner together most nights, and then spending time together after dinner in whatever ways they could think of. Then, as it got late, they would drive home separately to rest for what would probably be a long day at work the next day.

This night, they were at Bill's house watching "Phone Booth," which they had stumbled across while flipping through the TV channels. Two empty wine glasses sat forgotten on the coffee table, and the aroma of sautéed garlic from their dinner still drifted lazily through the house. Karen's suit jacket hung unattended in the entry way, and Bill's had been thrown unceremoniously over a chair in the dining room when he started cooking, accompanied by his abandoned tie. Now, they sat on Bill's couch, Karen curled up next to Bill and Bill with his arm around Karen's shoulders. Bill's fingers idly traced patterns on Karen's shoulder as the movie came to a close. When the credits started rolling, Karen slowly turned to face Bill.

"Did the voice of the caller on the phone sound familiar to you?" she asked curiously. Bill thought for a moment, trying to recall the voice. He hadn't recognized it when they had been watching the movie, but now that he thought about it, there was something vaguely familiar about the voice.

"Maybe," he said, looking at her questioningly. "Why? Did you recognize it?" Karen frowned, a tell-tale sign that she was thinking hard.

"Yes, but I can't place it," she said, still frowning. Bill looked at the screen as the credits continued to roll.

"Well, does," he paused and squinted at the name listed on the screen, "Kiefer Sutherland ring a bell to you?" Karen sighed and mulled over the name for a minute. When she came up with nothing however, she shook her head.

"No, never heard of him," she said, clearly disappointed. She had been sure that she had recognized that voice from somewhere.

Karen glanced at her watch to find that it was almost midnight. "Wow, it's getting late," she said. "I should be heading home." Bill slowly retracted his arm from around her and the couple stood up. As Karen retrieved her jacket from the entry way, Bill came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her close to him and placed a kiss on her cheek from behind. Karen sighed and leaned against him.

"Are you trying to make it so that I can't possibly leave?" she sighed, closing her eyes. Bill rested his chin on her shoulder, pressing a quick kiss to her neck before replying.

"Depends," he said. "Is it working?" Karen opened her eyes and turned in his arms to face him, a smirk turning up the corners of her mouth.

"Keep trying Romeo," she joked.

"Shall I?" he asked, grinning. Before she could answer, he continued dramatically, "'Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty 'till this night.' _Romeo and Juliet_, act 1." Karen burst out laughing.

"Bill, your English major is showing," she teased.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," he replied lightly. "We English majors have the advantage of being able to recite Shakespeare to our significant others without sounding like we memorized it the night before to impress them." Karen raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Yep." Karen studied Bill for a long minute, as if trying to validate this new information. After a long consideration, she smirked up at him.

"I don't think you're any different from those college boys who stay up late memorizing poetry for their girlfriends," she informed him.

"Yes I am," he said. Karen gave him a questioning look.

"Oh? How so?" Bill carefully closed the distance between them.

"The difference is that I know the meaning of what I say," he told her quietly.

"So what did that mean then?" Karen asked, playing along.

"It meant that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," Bill whispered seriously, causing Karen to blush and look down. Bill placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I think I have fallen in love with you," Bill confessed. Karen immediately looked back up at Bill, her eyes slightly wider than before.

"What?"

"I love you, Karen," Bill repeated. Before she could respond, he looked away and stammered, "And I don't expect you to say anything, I mean, I know it's kind of sudden and all-" Karen quickly silenced him by placing a finger over his lips. His eyes re-connected with hers, and he could hardly remember what he had been saying.

"I love you too, Bill," Karen smiled, emphasizing her point by placing a soft kiss where her finger had been. When she pulled back, she could hardly help but grin at Bill's slightly amazed expression.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really." A wide grin cracked across Bill's face.

"Good." Bill put another brief kiss on her lips before pulling back to help her get her jacket on. With several whispered words of parting and a few more lingering kisses, Karen departed to her car. As she sat in the driver's seat, she paused a moment before starting the car. Telling Bill that she loved him came so naturally, it almost scared her. She couldn't believe how quickly she had fallen completely in love with the CTU director. In her past relationships, Karen had been very hesitant to take any serious action without a lot of thought, but love was the only way she could begin to describe her feelings for Bill. Karen smiled to herself and turned on the ignition to her car.

**TBC (I promise I'll continue this, even if it takes me a while to get the next chapter out)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, look who finally decided to update her story! Sorry it took so long everyone. School has been awful. I don't know how often I'll be able to update this, especially if writing these chapters goes as long as it took to write this one. I promise I'll update whenever I can, and thanks so much to everyone for being so understanding! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from 24, which belongs to FOX and the creators of the show. Any original characters that appear or are mentioned are mine, though. I haven't based this on anyone else's fan fic work- it all came from my mind.**

**Chapter 7**

Several weeks later, Bill found that he was going to be working late at CTU. Usually, he didn't mind working late, but tonight, he was going to have dinner at Karen's condo. Since the start of their relationship, Bill had started finding excuses to leave work early as opposed to his usual practice of finding excuses to stay at work late. Unfortunately, tonight CTU had a possible threat come in that warranted immediate attention. He regretfully picked up the phone to call Karen.

"Hey you," she answered playfully when she saw the caller ID.

"Hey yourself," Bill replied. They quickly traded some small talk about how their days were and what they were doing. Bill wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject of work, so after several minutes of inconsequential chatter, Karen spoke up.

"So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind, or do I have to guess?" she asked, hoping to get him to open up to the reason he called.

"Who says there's anything on my mind? Who says I'm not just calling to hear your beautiful voice?" _Oh, he's good,_ Karen thought. Inside, she was grinning like a teenager at his compliment. Outside, she managed to maintain her composure. She wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Because you haven't said anything yet that you couldn't have told me in a couple of hours over dinner," Karen informed him. "You're avoiding the subject, and you don't know what to say, which suggests to me that it has something to do with an untimely work-related issue, seeing as how you are still at CTU." This sunned Bill into silence for a moment. _Wow, this woman really does know me,_ he thought.

"Yeah," he managed to get out. "Yeah, we just received a new threat, so it looks like I won't be able to make dinner tonight. I'm sorry." Karen sighed, certainly upset by this new development. However, she had known that this would happen sooner or later. She also knew that, some time in the possibly-not-so-distant future, it would be her having to cancel on Bill due to a last minute work issue.

"It's okay, sweetheart, I understand," she said, hiding the disappointment from her voice. "Give me a call when you get finished."

"I will. I'll finish up here by nine at the latest. It should be a fairly routine grab of this guy," Bill informed her.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. If you're not too tired, you're still welcome for dessert and coffee," Karen said.

"Sounds perfect. I'll call you as soon as I'm going to leave," Bill assured her. "I love you," he said, his voice softening as it always did for her.

"I love you too," Karen replied softly. With that, Karen heard the line go dead, and she sighed, also hanging up. She looked at her watch: 5:35. She debated what to do now. She had planned on leaving at 6, but now that she had no more plans with Bill, going home sounded much less appealing. Out of the corner of her eye, Karen caught sight of the rather large pile of reports she had planned on leaving until the morning.

"Oh no," she muttered to herself. "I will _not_ be sucked into this." She eyed the pile as many women will eye a rather delicious-looking piece of cake while they are on a diet. Shaking her head in defeat, she succumbed to the work and picked up the report off the top of the pile. Just until Bill called, she assured herself. He would be back before nine, so she might as well get some work done while she had nothing better to do.

Nine o'clock came and went. At first, Karen didn't think anything of it, but as it got farther and farther from nine, she began to wonder where he was. By eleven, she decided to call Bill, just to be assured that everything was okay. However, when she got the voicemail on his cell phone, her curiosity heightened. She called his desk phone, but no answer there. Finally, she called CTU. When she got shuffled through to some low-level agent, she started getting frustrated.

"Look, I don't need to know much. Just tell me how I can get a hold of Bill Buchanan," she said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hayes, but Mr. Buchanan is unreachable at the moment," the agent said automatically.

"Okay, but where is he?" Karen asked, hardly trying to keep the anger from her voice.

"I'm sorry, but that is strictly CTU business. I'm afraid you do not have clearance for that information." Karen had to restrain herself from yelling at the agent.

"_I_ don't have _clearance_?" she hissed at him in her deadliest voice. "I have more clearance than you can ever hope to have, so you damn well better get me that information _now_."

"I'm sorry, but--" the agent began. Karen cut him off.

"You know what, forget it. Just patch me through to Chloe O'Brian." If this robot-of-an-agent wasn't going to give her anything, she would have to go to someone who was at least human.

"O'Brian," was the terse response of the irritated analyst.

"Chloe? It's Karen Hayes from Homeland Security." There was a slight pause as Chloe considered what to say.

"Um, hi?"

"Look, I know you're probably busy, but I'm trying to reach Bill Buchanan and no one seems to be able to tell me where he is," Karen explained, plowing through the apparent awkwardness that Chloe exuded. "Do you know how I could get a hold of him?"

"Well, I don't think you can," Chloe stated bluntly. "He went out in the field and he's unreachable right now."

Karen could feel her breath catch. "He _what_?" she asked incredulously. Chloe suddenly realized what she had said and tried to make amends.

"Oh my gosh, I shouldn't have told you that. It was supposed to stay off the records," she said, unaware that it was not the confidentiality of the information that concerned Karen.

"Chloe, what do you know about this? Have you heard from him?" Karen asked desperately.

"Well, I don't really know anything. I've been working on something else," Chloe replied, doing her best not to give away anything else.

"I find it hard to believe that you have no idea what's going on," Karen immediately retorted.

"Well…" Chloe hesitated. Karen could tell that she was probably looking around her, trying to make sure that no one was within hearing distance. "It's supposed to stay off the records," she repeated quietly. "Several hours ago, we found a suspect named Matt McGuire. McGuire is this business owner with all of these terrorist connections, so we had to bring him in. However, Division said that they wanted to keep the operation quiet since, technically, we don't have a lot of solid evidence to hold him on. We know that he's involved, but our evidence isn't good enough to issue a warrant. Mr. Buchanan ended up being the one to lead the team out to McGuire's house."

"Why the hell did Bill go out into the field instead of a field agent?" Karen demanded.

"We don't have our top field agents in today," Chloe replied. "Curtis took the day off, and a few others are scattered to other assorted agencies for the day. By the time we called any of them in, the lead on McGuire would have gone cold. Mr. Buchanan was the only one here qualified to lead the team."

"So what's the status on the mission?"

"I don't know. All comm. went through field ops on this mission in order to keep it off the books," Chloe said. "It was supposed to be a fairly straightforward grab, but he's not back yet, so I'm not sure how it went."

This sent Karen's head spinning. Bill had gone into the field, and he hadn't returned. Not only hadn't he returned, but no one seemed to know where he was or what happened. Suddenly, Karen felt sick to her stomach. Awful situations seemed to fly through her mind at an uncontrollable rate. She realized that she had been sitting in silence when Chloe spoke.

"Ms. Hayes?" Karen snapped out of her thoughts. She attempted to speak several times, finally managing to choke out a few sentences.

"Chloe, would you please give me a call as soon as you find out anything? I need to contact Bill as soon as possible," she managed, hoping that her voice still sounded as professional as possible.

"Why?" Chloe asked slightly suspiciously. The last time Karen had needed to contact CTU, she had promptly taken over the building and fired everyone within it. However, Chloe's suspicious tone only angered Karen.

"That's not your concern," she snapped at Chloe. "All you need to know is that it's important that I contact him the minute that he is reachable." It was lucky that the two were not speaking face-to-face, as Chloe's annoyed facial expression would likely have sent Karen over the edge.

"Fine. I'll call you if I find out anything," Chloe said before abruptly hanging up. Karen sat in silence, numbly placing the phone back on the receiver. Bill was gone. Missing. Unknown status. They could be stamping "DECEASED" across his file by now, for all she knew. That thought immediately sent tears to her eyes. _No,_ she thought. _I can't do this._ Her rational mind told her that she was jumping to conclusions that were probably not true; her emotions told her that she could have very well have just lost the man that she loved.

Karen made several phone calls to Division, trying to determine Bill's status. However, her efforts were all in vain. No one even acknowledged the existence of a covert operation to bring in Matt McGuire, despite her insistence that she knew all about it, so there was no need to lie to her. By midnight, Karen had given up. The only way she was going to find out about Bill was if he called her. _Or if I see his name in the obituaries of tomorrow's paper,_ she thought morosely. She attempted to do some more work, but she couldn't focus. She stood up and started pacing her office. Maybe there was some other way, something that she hadn't tried yet…

Just then, there was a knock at her office door. "Come in," she called absentmindedly, still pacing. The door opened to reveal none other than elusive Bill Buchanan. Astonishment flooded Karen's system as she stood staring wordlessly at Bill. Relief started to trickle through her system, but she was still unsure of what to say. Luckily, it was Bill that spoke up first.

"Hey, I tried calling you at home, but when you didn't answer, I figured you must still be here," he explained. "I was just down the street at Division, so I thought I would stop by." When Karen still didn't respond, concern crossed Bill's face. "Karen, are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Karen thought about her answer for a moment, still trying to process everything. It almost seemed silly now, being worried that Bill had died. Seriously, she could understand being worried that he was wounded, but _dead?_ That was a bit extreme. She suddenly felt slightly embarrassed by her previous fears.

"I'm fine now," she said, trying to shake of his concern. Bill persisted, however.

"No, you're not. What's wrong, Karen?" he asked, starting to worry.

"Well, I just…" Karen trialed off, not sure what to say. "I was worried about you," she confessed.

"Why were you worried?" he asked.

"Well, you went out in the field and didn't report back to CTU, so no one had any idea what happened to you," Karen started.

"Hold on, how did you find out that I was in the field?" Bill asked warily.

"I did some calling around," she replied, dodging a direct answer as best as she could. "Why? Does it matter?"

"Of course not," Bill answered a little too quickly. There was suddenly a tension in the air between them that had not been present the moment before. Karen frowned at Bill, not sure what caused this tension.

"What is it, Bill?" she asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. But there's something you're not telling me." Her statement hung in the air for a minute, untouched. When he still didn't respond, Karen took a guess. "Was this something that you intentionally left out of our conversation earlier?" It was really a shot in the dark on her part, but the resulting subtle flush in Bill's face was just enough for Karen to notice. Her infamous temper immediately flared.

"Why wouldn't you tell me that, Bill?" she asked, forcing her voice to remain calm.

Bill considered his answer for a moment. He knew it would be pointless to deny it right now; after all, he had consciously chosen not to tell her that specific piece of information when he called her earlier. He decided to plow through it as quickly as he could.

"Because I didn't want you to do this," he told her quickly.

"To find out?" she asked, anger flashing in her eyes.

"To worry," Bill corrected.

"So you lied," Karen immediately accused.

"I didn't tell you something to keep it from hurting you. Is that a bad thing?" Bill asked, his usually-calm voice suddenly rising.

"But I found out anyway!" Karen cried. "Don't you think I would have rather heard it from you than someone else?" When Bill didn't say anything, Karen continued. "This is exactly why I could never be involved with a field agent, Bill. I can't handle this kind of stress."

"Do you think I _want_ to be a field agent?" Bill exclaimed, his voice now at a steady yell. "Do you really think that's what I wanted to do when I took the position as director of CTU?"

"I find it hard to believe that you absolutely had to say yes when they asked you to go out in the field," Karen spat coldly.

"Karen, you know how these things work!" Bill cried. "It doesn't matter what I _want_ to do; it had to be done and I was the only one there who could do it. That's what this job takes. I don't like it sometimes, but that's just the way it is." Karen was silent for a long minute, giving Bill time to calm down slightly.

"Well, maybe we need to think about this," Karen said quietly. The blood drained from Bill's face at these words and all desire to prove himself right left his body instantly. He stood horrified at the damage he might have just done to their relationship. Quickly, he stammered something in an attempt to rectify the situation.

"Please, Karen-" he begged quietly, only to be cut off by her.

"Bill, it's late," Karen interrupted. "I'm tired. I can't be having this discussion right now when I can't even think straight. We can talk later." Her seemingly-indifferent tone left no room for discussion or debate. Bill's pleading look seemed to have no effect on her, and he suddenly realized that he should leave.

"Whenever you're ready to talk, you know where to find me," he finally told her. With that, he turned around and left Karen standing there silently in the middle of her office. As the door to her office closed, Karen felt tears start to fall from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and packed up her briefcase to go home, insistent on keeping her emotions in check. Karen managed to make it all the way back to her condo before she broke down completely.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**And here's my next chapter! I got it out a little sooner than I had originally planned, but that's okay! **

**Take5 and Huddyalways: Here's my update. I'm waiting for yours :D**

**Chapter 8**

At work the next day, the staff of CTU quickly learned to stay away from Bill as much as possible. Don't ask him a question that could easily be answered by Chloe. Don't hand him a report when you could give it to Nadia instead. And, whatever you do, _don't_ ask him what's wrong.

By that evening, just about everyone at CTU had been reprimanded by Bill for one thing or another. Finally, Nadia timidly knocked on the CTU director's office door. He waved her in.

"What is it, Nadia?" he asked, more harshly than usual, but relatively tame by today's standards.

"Mr. Buchanan, I think you should go home and get some rest," the brand new second-in-command told him. "We don't have any active protocols, and I can finish up any paperwork you might have to fill out." Bill looked up from his stack of papers and over the top of his glasses sternly, reminding Nadia briefly of an elementary school principal about to scold some wrong-doing student.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine," he retorted. Nadia sighed. _How did I manage to get this job?_ she asked herself.

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think you are." Nadia plowed through this and then braced herself for the torrent that would soon follow. Sure enough, Bill looked at her sharply.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his voice having an almost deadly edge to it. "I don't think that is any of your business, and frankly, the government doesn't pay you to concern yourself with other people's affairs."

"I'm not trying to stick my nose into your business," Nadia quickly defended, her voice starting to get angry. She didn't want to blow up at him, but it was getting harder and harder for her to deal with his attitude. "I'm just trying to keep this office running effectively. There is not a single person on that floor who you have not yelled at today, and if you don't stop this soon, you're not going to have any allies left down there. I'm just trying to help you and make sure you don't do that."

Although Nadia expected this to rile the CTU director more, her words seemed to have the opposite effect on him. Bill's expression immediately softened and he looked down at the floor, slightly embarrassed by his behavior. He took a deep, calming breath before turning his gaze back up to Nadia.

"I'm sorry, Nadia. It was unfair of me to be angry at you," Bill said honestly. "And thank you for your advice. You're probably right. I do need to get some rest."

"You're welcome," she replied, still slightly wary of this change in tone. With that, Nadia quickly excused herself, deciding to quit while she was ahead.

Bill sighed. He decided to take Nadia's advice and go home. He felt bad that he had given everyone at CTU a hard time today, but his thoughts had been too preoccupied with Karen for him to be able to monitor his behavior.

Karen. The name that used to give him a happy, hopeful feeling now felt more like a slap across the face. Bill had never even considered blaming Karen for what happened, however. Instead, he blamed himself. He couldn't believe he could have ruined everything they had, all over something he should have thought about in the first place.

_I've been out of this whole dating game for too long. Now I can hardly remember what is expected,_ he thought. Bill had almost called Karen several times today, just to apologize for everything, but he realized that she would contact him when she was ready. He didn't want to call her and have her think that he was trying to pressure her to go one way or another with their relationship.

Days passed when neither Bill nor Karen called each other. Neither was going to cave in first. Bill was determined to give Karen her space, and Karen was stubbornly refusing to be first to admit that they couldn't live without the other.

Almost a week after their fight, Bill was leaving early from CTU. He had tried his absolute hardest to find something to occupy his time, but each time he came up with an excuse to stay, someone else told him that they would take care of it. He suspected that Nadia had something to do with this, but he never confronted her about it. Instead, he took a detour to the supermarket.

There was something about buying food that had always had a calming effect on CTU's director. He had never been a compulsive eater, in fact, he was quite the opposite. Instead, he was somewhat of a compulsive shopper, never quite able to resist if some produce was looking especially good that day. It was this love that led him to cooking; after all, what good is a bunch of ingredients if you can't prepare them? Ever since he had been living on his own out of college, he had started cooking whatever he could whenever he could. Now, it was his routine to cook for himself whenever his busy schedule would allow him to get home at a decent time. It was the anticipation of an excessive amount of free time that evening that led Bill to the supermarket to purchase the ingredients to what would later be his dinner.

Bill entered the closest Albertson's to CTU that he could find and started his shopping. He started in the bakery and slowly worked his way down the aisles and over to the produce section, which was his favorite section. He didn't care that this order of shopping was backwards in regards to the layout of the store; he _always _ended in the produce section.

Bill wandered aimlessly through the stands of various fruits and vegetables, mindlessly picking up whatever looked good. He briefly stopped at a basket of tomatoes, picking up two to judge which was the better tomato. However, the two only seemed to glare at him like a pair of angry bright red eyes.

_Maybe I should call her,_ he thought as he stared blankly back at the tomatoes. _No,_ said another voice in his head, _She wants to be left alone. She would have called if she wanted to talk._ Bill placed both tomatoes back on the pile, not getting either of them. It had been five days since he had talked to Karen. Five days since Karen had declared that she needed to think, and there had been not a single communication between them. Bill was starting to fear for the worst; obviously, she wanted nothing to do with him. Well, if she would have nothing to do with him, then he would prove to her that he could get by just as well without her.

Several more minutes passed as Bill collected a few more items and added them to his cart. It wasn't until Bill was just about to check out that he looked up to the store entrance and noticed a familiar blonde walking through the doors. His backwards-shopping technique had landed him right in front of Karen as she entered the store. For a moment, he was convinced that his mind was playing tricks on him, but once she looked over to him, he knew by her widening eyes and slightly shocked expression that she was, in fact, real. Time stopped for the briefest of moments when neither knew what to do. However, that was quickly snapped by one of the supermarket employees running into Bill, the teenager doing his best to balance several boxes full of oranges.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, sir. Are you all right?" the kid quickly apologized as Bill hurried to steady himself against the onion display. Bill glanced at the kid, but his eyes immediately sought out the entrance. They found her just in time to see her retreating back hurry out of the same door through which she had just entered.

"Excuse me," Bill muttered to the employee, abandoning his cart and keeping his eyes trained on Karen.

"But sir, you can't leave this here," the teenager said, motioning to Bill's full cart.

"Then take it," Bill replied, waving his hand dismissively and still following Karen. He exited the building and emerged into the parking lot to see Karen walking towards her car.

"Karen," he called out, hoping to get her to stop. "Karen!" He rushed over to her, and when he was finally close enough that Karen could no longer escape, she turned to face him.

The minute their eyes connected, words were lost on both of them. Bill wondered how it had become so difficult to say anything to her. He looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Maybe I should just go," he muttered.

"No," Karen protested quietly. "That's okay." She wasn't exactly rushing to straighten things up, Bill noticed, but it was a start. He attempted to say something, but words still weren't coming to him. Karen cleared her throat. "So, I've been thinking-" she started.

"I'm so sorry," Bill blurted out, cutting off her next words. "I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I know I was wrong to hide anything from you, and please, if you give me a chance to prove it, I'll never do anything like that again."

A shadow of a smile flickered across Karen's face before it was quickly masked again.

"I know you won't, Bill," she replied quietly. "I still trust you, and I still want this to work." After a pause where Karen appeared to be contemplating her next words, she said, "And I still love you." Relief flooded Bill's features, and he ran a hand through his silver hair. Words seemed inadequate to express his relief, and he reached out and pulled Karen into his arms. Her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around him and she buried her face in his suit.

"I love you, too, Karen," Bill finally replied as he inhaled her scent. After a couple of minutes, they broke apart. "Listen, I know we probably still have to talk," Bill said. Karen nodded almost shyly and Bill continued, "Are you doing anything tonight? I was going to go home and make some dinner, and I'd love the company."

Karen looked as if she was seriously considering her plans before saying teasingly, "Well, let's see. The only plans I had for myself were to go home and work until I couldn't stay awake any more. I think your idea sounds like a much better offer." Bill grinned.

"I would hope so," he teased. The couple returned to the store so that Bill could retrieve his groceries, which, by some miracle, were right where he had left them.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Before she knew it, Karen was at Bill's house and they were discussing everything they needed to over a delicious home-cooked meal. Neither could believe that things had been worked out so easily, but they weren't complaining. By the end of dessert, they were back to their usual light flirting and banter.

"Come on, you've got to admit, there's something extremely intimidating about an entire team from Homeland Security coming in, even if they're only coming in for a 'damage assessment,'" Bill teased in response to Karen's comment that CTU tactical teams seemed much more intimidating than anything at Homeland Security. This was part of their ongoing debate. Each was continually trying to prove to the other that their job was better than the other's.

"Oh, so I'm intimidating, am I?" Karen asked as Bill stood at the sink rinsing their dishes. He nodded without looking at her.

"Extremely," he replied seriously. When Karen swatted his arm, a grin broke across his face and he attempted to dodge her attacks. She pouted at her thwarted attempt, and Bill turned back to the dishes. Karen sighed in defeat and watched him place several more dishes in the dishwasher.

After a minute, Karen approached Bill from behind and slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. She was silent for a moment before saying the question that was lingering on her mind.

"Am I really that intimidating?" she asked quietly into the back of his shoulder. Bill turned in her arms and looked into her eyes.

"Not right now, you're not," he told her. "Besides, I love you, intimidating or not, so don't worry." When Karen said nothing, Bill frowned. "What? Do you not believe me?"

Karen shook her head. "Of course I believe you," she said, a slight smile flicking across her face. "I'm just afraid that you're not being completely honest," she teased. Bill unsuccessfully restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

"And what reason do I have to lie to you, my dear?" he asked, slowly closing some of the distance between their lips. Karen's eyes flicked between his eyes and his approaching mouth.

"I don't know," she mumbled, his mouth close enough for her to feel his breath on her face now.

"Exactly," he whispered, closing the distance between their lips with a slow, but passionate kiss. Karen let out a soft moan as Bill's questing tongue found its way into her mouth, deepening the kiss. She returned his passion as her fingers explored the silver hair at the base of his neck, and suddenly, she couldn't get enough of him. They kissed for several minutes before Bill seemed to realize what Karen had in mind. He slowly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

"Are we really doing this, Karen?" he asked quietly.

"Do you want to?" she asked slightly worriedly. "Because, God, I do." Bill's only response was to press his lips to hers again more frantically than before.

The few dishes left in the sink were quickly forgotten for the evening.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**And another chapter! Watch out- the fluff meter on this one is through the roof. :D**

**Chapter 9**

Karen awoke the next morning to the sun just poking through the curtains in the bedroom. _Bill's bedroom,_ she quickly added to herself. Her heart leapt. _God, what a night,_ she thought contentedly. With her eyes still closed, she reached over to the other side of the bed to be greeted by a warm, but empty, spot of sheets. Her eyes snapped open, and they confirmed what she had felt; Bill was no where to be seen. Curiously, Karen sat up and looked around, starting to get slightly nervous. However, her increasing heart rate was calmed when she heard movement coming from the bathroom. A moment later, Bill stepped out of the bathroom in his boxers and a white undershirt, his hair wet from a shower. When he saw Karen awake, he immediately moved over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"Hey," he whispered, reaching over to brush several strands of hair our of Karen's face. "Sorry, I had to get up, but I didn't have the heart to wake you." Karen smiled.

"That's okay," she told him. She glanced over at the bedside table, but she couldn't see the clock. "What time is it?" she asked, motioning towards the clock.

"Eight o'clock." Bill answered. Karen groaned.

"Do we have to go to work today?" she whined. Bill grinned and placed a quick kiss on her pouting lips.

"Well, there's always the possibility that we both happen to get 'sick' on the same day," he told her mischievously as he reached over, pulled her close to him, and started trailing kisses up her neck. Karen closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Bill's lips on her skin. "We could get so sick that we just can't get out of bed all day," he whispered seductively in her ear. Karen let out a faint moan at the thought.

"But I have a meeting at noon that I can't… I can't miss," Karen struggled through the haze that quickly began encompassing her thoughts.

"So?" Bill mumbled into her as he trailed his kisses down her bare shoulder.

"Bill," Karen whispered, although she immediately forgot what she was going to say. Bill grinned at her.

"Should I make the call?" he asked quietly. Karen sighed as her thoughts returned to work.

"No," she said, defeated. She looked at Bill, whose expression betrayed his disappointment. "We're going to be late enough as it is," Karen pointed out. Bill sighed.

"I suppose you're right," he muttered. The couple reluctantly got up from the bed. "There's an extra towel in the bathroom, if you want to use the shower," Bill told her.

"Thanks," said Karen. At this, Bill went downstairs to prepare coffee and breakfast, leaving Karen alone. She walked across the room and picked up her scattered articles of clothing, which had managed to leave a trail from the door to the bed. Karen grinned as she recalled Bill removing them last night. She hadn't thought that it would be possible to fall in love so completely with a man at her age, but Bill had proved her so very wrong. Now she couldn't imagine life without Bill, even though they had only been together for a little less than two months.

Karen quickly showered and dried her hair, dressed, and then joined Bill downstairs, who was busy scrambling several eggs. He turned as she entered the kitchen and smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself," she replied, smiling slightly flirtatiously. Despite their two successful months together, she still could hardly believe that they were doing this, that they were playing this game. Bill offered her a cup of coffee, which she gladly accepted. The couple stood in contented silence with Karen sipping her coffee and leaning up against the counter as she watched Bill cook several pieces of bacon. Neither one spoke, but they didn't need to. They could enjoy their time together just as much if they were completely silent as if they were having a deep conversation. Their silence lasted for several minutes before Karen broke it.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Karen asked quietly. Bill nodded and turned to her, still keeping an eye on the bacon frying in the pan.

"I think you might have mentioned it at some point," he said semi-seriously, although he could hardly hide the smile that threatened to overwhelm his expression. "Besides, even if you haven't, I think I got the picture last night." Karen couldn't help but smile somewhat sheepishly at this observation.

"Good." Karen paused as she took a sip of her coffee. "And I've been thinking about that sick day you suggested," she started. Bill turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"I think I'm going to have to ask for a rain check on that one," she informed him mischievously. Bill grinned and closed the distance between them by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.

"And I'm going to have to hold you to that one," he told her seriously. Karen placed her coffee cup on the counter and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"That's perfectly fine by me," she told him.

"And this time, I'm not going to let it slide for a few weeks," Bill continued. "You are cashing that in ASAP, my dear."

"Deal."

Bill leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on her smiling lips, drawing out the moment for as long as he could. When they parted, he flashed her a quick grin before turning back to the pan, where the bacon was just barely starting to burn. He quickly served up two plates of breakfast, handing one to Karen and taking one for himself before following her to the table where they sat down to eat. It was several minutes before either of them spoke again.

"Bill," Karen started. Bill looked up at her slightly warily. Karen had suddenly gotten a little edgier, shifting in her seat as she continued, "You know how I've mentioned that Ryan is getting married at the beginning of December?" Bill nodded in the affirmative. Karen had talked several times about her son's upcoming wedding. "Well, they just sent out the official invitations, and I was wondering if you would come with me." She rushed through the last part as quickly as she could.

"Of course," he answered, smiling. He looked at her slightly quizzically. "Why so nervous? Did you really think I'd say no?"

"No, it's just that you shouldn't feel like you're obligated to go," Karen told him. He frowned, not understanding what she was trying to say. Karen sighed. "Bill, I would love it if you would come. I really would. But Michael is going to be there, and I don't want you to feel like I'm thrusting you into an unpleasant situation. Besides, I can't guarantee how anyone else will react to you. I would hope that they will be happy for us, but there's no guarantee." Realization dawned upon Bill's face, and he paused a moment, clearing his throat before answering.

"Karen, there are no guarantees about anything," he told her. "If working at CTU has taught me one thing, that would be it. Now, we're going to have to tell our families some time, and you're right, there's no guarantee that they'll be happy for us. But all that matters is that I love you, okay? That's the only guarantee I have for you; no matter what your family, your children, or your ex says, I'll still love you. So my answer remains yes, I would love to go to Ryan's wedding with you." Karen studied Bill with an almost amused look on her face before shaking her head and smiling at him. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"You never cease to amaze me," she replied to his unasked question.

"What can I say? I try," Bill said grinning. From there, the couple finished their breakfast with much lighter conversation. They spent the next twenty minutes getting ready for work, although Karen still had to stop by her condo and change her clothes. She realized that she should probably keep a change of clothes at Bill's house if they were going to end up in this situation more often. She resolved to talk to Bill about this later.

Just as they were about ready to leave, Karen stood in front of the bathroom mirror pulling her hair up into her usual bun that she wore to work. Bill, now fully dressed in the suit he wore to work, came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sighed and leaned back into his embrace.

"You should consider leaving your hair down for work," he informed her. "It looks good that way." Karen paused and thought about this suggestion.

"You think so?" she asked. Bill nodded.

"I do think so," he said. Karen frowned for a moment; it was her trademark I'm-in-deep-thought-about-this-issue face. Finally, she turned to face Bill and smiled slightly.

"Okay," she said. "I'll leave it down." They spent several moments lost in each other's eyes before Bill placed a lingering kiss on her lips, to which Karen sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss lasted several minutes, and Karen had to force herself to pull away.

"Mmm," she sighed. "We're never going to get to work at this rate."

"Yeah, you're right," Bill muttered, quickly kissing her forehead before leaving the bathroom to grab his cell phone from the nightstand. Karen followed him out of the bathroom, smiling at him as he turned to her and they left the room, both heading out for their cars. Karen turned to get into her car, but Bill pulled her in for one last brief kiss before leaving.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said. "I'll call you tonight." Bill grinned.

"Okay." He opened her car door for her and watched her pull out of his driveway. He waited until she was out of sight before leaving in his own car for CTU. On his way to work, he couldn't help but think of how nice it would be to have a morning like this one every morning.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Over the next few months, Karen and Bill continued to grow their relationship even more. By the time December rolled around, they were practically living together, but they were doing so in both Bill's house and Karen's condo. They had talked about trading in their two residences for one shared house, but the lease on Karen's condo wasn't up until the middle of January. They agreed to continue with their current arrangement until then.

The week of Ryan's wedding was upon them before they realized it. The wedding was on a Saturday, and they flew out to Baltimore on Thursday. Karen spent the entire six hour flight nervously fidgeting with whatever she came in contact with, whether it was the safety pamphlet on the plane or Bill's hand. Bill tried several times to calm her down, but his efforts were all in vain.

"Sweetheart, you look like you're going to have a nervous breakdown any moment. Would you please just relax? You're making _me_ nervous," Bill said as they were in the car on their way to their hotel. They planned to drop their luggage off at their hotel before going to Karen's mother's house to meet her family. Karen glanced over at Bill.

"I'm sorry, Bill. I just…" she trailed off, not sure how to express what she was feeling.

"You just want everything to go well," Bill finished for her. Upon receiving Karen's silent confirmation of this fact, Bill continued. "Don't worry. It's going to be fine. They're your family. It's not like they're strangers."

"I'd almost rather introduce you to strangers," Karen muttered.

"Look, don't worry about me. If they like me, great. If they don't, well then that's too bad for them. I don't plan on leaving you if your family doesn't like me," Bill informed her. Truthfully, Bill was doing extremely well at masking his nerves. He was probably just about as nervous as Karen looked, but he wasn't going to let her know that. He was famous for keeping his cool in stressful situations, and this was just another one of those situations, he told himself.

Karen looked over at Bill nervously and asked for the hundredth time, "Now, are you sure you're okay with the names?"

"Yes, I'm positive I know who everyone is," Bill replied, his voice betraying the fact that he was answering this question the hundredth time, and his answer was the exact same as it had been the first time.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. There's no need to sound so put out."

"Honey, you gave me your family tree to study, which I did. You've quizzed me about fifty times, and I've known the answer each time. Your mother is Beverly Fitzgerald. You have three brothers- Jim, Patrick, and Ed. Ed is the oldest, then Patrick, then Jim, then you. Jim is married to Lisa--"

"Okay, I get it," Karen snapped, looking back out the window. Bill decided not to provoke her again for the rest of the ride.

About an hour later, they had stopped by the hotel, dropped their luggage off, and were now approaching the Fitzgerald family "home base", as Karen had called it. Really, that meant that they were going to her mother's house. Beverly Fitzgerald, despite being in her early 80's, still lived on her own in the house that Karen and her three brothers had grown up in. After Karen's father died a few years ago, all of the Fitzgeralds had urged Beverly to sell it and move somewhere where she could be cared for, but Beverly was fiercely independent. It seemed that everyone but Beverly knew that a time would come when she had to part with the old house, but until then, she seemed to be getting along fine. A maid came in twice a week to clean the house, but Beverly did all the rest.

"I really don't need Maggie to come and clean," she would say. "I do everything else; there's no need to hire someone to do the work I can also do." Still, she kept the maid to ease the minds of her four children, who took comfort in the fact that there was someone checking in on their mother, even if she only came twice a week.

As Bill drove up the driveway to Beverly's house, Karen noticed that there were several other cars parked along the driveway. They parked and approached the door. Karen's hand hesitated over the doorbell. She looked up at Bill questioningly, almost pleading him to get back in the car and head back to the hotel. Bill only sighed, reached over, and pressed the doorbell himself. It was several moments before they heard footsteps approaching the door. The door was flung open to reveal an energetic redhead woman, about the same age as Karen, whose face immediately brightened with recognition upon seeing Karen.

"Karen! You're here!" she exclaimed, enveloping Karen in a big hug.

"Lisa, hi," Karen greeted returning the embrace. As the women parted, Karen continued, "Are Patrick and Ed both here too?"

"Yes, we're all here. Jim and I got in yesterday, but Patrick and Ed only got here a few hours ago," Lisa replied smiling. Her gaze shifted over to Bill. Karen quickly introduced them.

"Lisa, this is Bill Buchanan. Bill, this is Lisa Fitzgerald, my bother Jim's wife," Karen said. Bill and Lisa shook hands and greeted each other briefly before Lisa ushered them inside. Bill reached for Karen so that they fell behind Lisa a few steps.

"Jim is the youngest brother, married to Lisa with one son, Matthew, who is 17 years old," Bill told her quietly to prove his earlier point that he knew her family tree. Karen glared at him and whispered grumpily, "There's no need to be a smartass about it," before they were brought into the kitchen.

"Look who I found!" Lisa proclaimed as Karen came into view. Beverly Fitzgerald, who stood behind the stove donning an apron that read "#1 Grandma", clapped her hands in delight and rushed around to greet her daughter.

"There's the mother of the groom!" she cried as she threw her arms around her daughter and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Hi Mom," Karen said tentatively. Beverly pulled away.

"How have you been, honey? Good? Not overworking yourself out in LA, I hope?" Beverly said, clearly concerned.

"No, no, I've been fine," Karen said, hoping her mother wouldn't press her about work. Her mother always seemed to know when she was lying to her. However, for the time being, Beverly seemed satisfied with Karen's answer. She turned her attention to Bill, clapping her hands together.

"And this must be him! Karen told me you would be coming. It's about time you brought home a man, Karen," Beverly told her daughter. Karen briefly closed her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment, before introducing Bill to her mother. Much to Bill's surprise, Beverly enveloped Bill in a hug much the same way that she had with Karen. "So good to meet you, Bill," she said, beaming as she stepped back. A timer on the oven beeped, and she quickly went to pull its contents out. "You're only the second boyfriend Karen's brought home, and mind you, the first was Michael," Beverly informed Bill as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Do you mind, Mom?" Karen asked, annoyed. Beverly gave Karen an innocent, what-did-I-do? look.

"I just thought the man should know where he stands," Beverly told Karen innocently.

"I'm pretty sure Bill knows where he stands better than you do," Karen informed her mother coolly. "Besides, do you want to know why I don't bring men home? It has something to do with the fact that I have three brothers who successfully scared away every boy I tried to bring within one mile of this house when we were in high school," Karen defended.

"Who, me? Never," came a voice behind them. Karen turned around to be greeted by her brother Jim, who smiled and enveloped Karen in a brotherly hug. "How are you doing, sis?" he asked grinning.

"Great, Jim, thanks," Karen replied. Before Jim could say anything, Karen introduced him to Bill. The two men shook hands and greeted each other, and Jim looked from Bill back to Karen.

"So, is this the man I have to scare away?" he asked jokingly, quickly winking at Bill.

"Haha, very funny," Karen replied dryly. "I'd like to see you try. Bill's a highly trained government agent, and I'm sure he would find your juvenile antics more amusing than intimidating." Jim took a step back from Karen and Bill, trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to look intimidated.

"Sorry, didn't mean to strike a nerve," he said to his sister. He then turned his attention to Bill. "So, Bill, you're a government agent. Do you work at Homeland, too?"

"Actually, I work at the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles," Bill said. He took this opportunity to tell Jim what CTU was and briefly explain how he and Karen had met.

"So you went in there to take his job and you had the audacity to ask him out to dinner?" Jim asked Karen, looking shocked, when Bill had finished the story.

"Excuse me, I'll have you know that our first date was a mutually agreed-upon outing," Karen informed him. Karen glanced at Bill, where a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. She smiled and turned back to address Jim. "If you must know, Bill asked me out and I agreed. I didn't initiate it." Jim turned back to Bill and shook his head with a serious look on his face.

"I'm so sorry," he stated, only to break his serious face as Karen reached across the counter to punch his arm.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a fairly pleasant daze. Bill was introduced to Patrick, the middle of the three Fitzgerald brothers, and Ed, the oldest of the three. They both seemed pleasant enough, but before Bill knew it, they had been able to turn the conversation about the wedding into a conversation about themselves. Bill shrugged it off and resolved to ask Karen about them later.

It wasn't until almost dinner time that Karen's daughter, Stephanie, arrived. She was greeted by the pleasant crowd of relatives at the door, each of which she hugged and greeted. She finally made it through the throng of aunts, uncles, and cousins and made her way to Karen.

"Hi Steph, how are you?" Karen said, enveloping her daughter in a hug.

"Great, although the flight from Chicago was delayed a few hours, so I've spent most of the day at the airport," an annoyed Stephanie said. Karen nodded understandingly and brought Stephanie over to meet Bill.

"Steph, I want you to meet Bill Buchanan. Bill, my daughter Stephanie," said Karen slightly nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Stephanie," Bill said pleasantly, extending a hand. Stephanie shook his hand, studying him for a brief second before responding.

"Same to you, Mr. Buchanan," she replied slightly coolly, still trying to decide whether she liked this guy or not.

"Please, it's Bill," he said. Stephanie gave no reply and quickly turned back to talk to Karen about the schedule for the wedding. Karen gave Bill one last, apologetic glance before answering her daughter's questions about the next few days. It wasn't until later that night that Karen and Bill could talk about Bill's first encounter with Karen's family.

"Sweetheart, I don't know why you dreaded that so much," Bill said later as they were getting ready for bed back at their hotel. Karen sat down on the king-sized bed and faced Bill as he changed.

"Are you kidding? Patrick and Ed didn't even seem to care that you existed. All they wanted to talk about was their own lives and how one was better than the other," Karen said angrily.

"Are they always like that?" Bill asked gently.

"Yes. They've always been the competitive ones in the family. Jim and I never did care for the competition as much as they did, but they were always trying to beat the other at something. Ed comes home with an A on a report card; Patrick had to get an A+. Patrick gets a promotion; Ed has to get a better one. Ed gets married; Patrick has to find a wife who's somehow better than Ed's." Karen sighed. "I had hoped they might have grown out of it. It drives me up a wall to have to listen to them compare their children like they're their prized racehorses. But God, Bill, I'm so sorry about Stephanie."

"Don't worry about it," Bill firmly stated. "I didn't expect her to like me at all, and I don't expect that she will ever fully warm to the idea of her mother dating another man."

"Still, she could have at least been civil to you," said Karen apologetically. Bill shook his head.

"She was much more civil than I had expected her to be, from the way you prepared me for this," Bill said pointedly. When Karen didn't respond, Bill sat down next to her on the bed. "The hard part is over," he told her. "Now that she knows who I am, maybe she'll warm up to me a little. It's just going to take some time." Karen sighed and leaned up against Bill, wrapping her arms around him. She breathed in his musky scent, which calmed her down.

"I'm sorry," she said into his chest. "I just wanted my family to love you as much as I do."

"Fortunately," Bill said, placing a kiss on top of her head. "You're the only one whose love I need."

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

**I have decided that I'm really ready to be done with this story, so I plan to update this as much as I can. I'm still hoping to get it done by the end of the year (only two weeks away!), so we'll see how that goes. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 11**

The next day passed in a busy blur. Karen and Bill went over to visit the Bradleys, who were the family of Ryan's fiancée, Caroline, and Bill was introduced to the bride and groom. Ryan seemed much more willing to accept Bill than Stephanie had been, and they immediately started chatting about baseball, a sport that both were fans of.

"I'm sorry, Ryan, but I have to say that the New York Yankees are the best team that ever played," Bill said. Ryan made a face. He and Caroline lived in Boston, home of the Yankees' arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

"Yes, but when was the last time that the Yankees won the World Series? 2000?" Ryan asked. The Red Sox had won several World Series titles since then. At this point, Karen came up next to them.

"What are you two arguing about?" she asked lightly, although Bill noticed a hint of anxiety in her voice. Ryan only rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion.

"Mom, you're dating a Yankees fan," he informed her as if this were a capital sin. Understanding dawned across Karen's face, quickly followed by a wave of relief.

"Well, I'm sure Bill is annoyed that I raised a Red Sox fan, too," she told her son, giving a sideways glance at Bill, who grinned. "Fortunately for me, I don't follow baseball, so I can overlook this particular…" she paused, searching for the right word. "Issue," she finished delicately. "Besides, your father used to be a Yankees fan, too," Karen observed. Ryan shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I don't always see eye-to-eye with him either," he said jokingly. He turned to Bill. "I won't hold this against you, though," he said seriously to the older man. "You seem like a nice enough guy. Just don't mess with my mother and you're okay in my book," he said, placing a protective arm around Karen's shoulders. Karen just rolled her eyes.

"Can I go nowhere without someone threatening my date?" she asked. "First Jim, now you, Ryan…" Ryan smiled and placed a kiss on Karen's cheek.

"We only do it because we love you, Mom," he said happily before rushing off to find his bride-to-be. Karen sighed as she watched him go.

"Sorry, he's so protective of me," she muttered to Bill, who just smiled.

"Don't worry about it," he told her firmly. "He just loves you. Besides, I don't plan on messing with you, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about." Karen smiled up at Bill and briefly grasped his hand. Bill squeezed it reassuringly before they were called back to deal with more wedding business for the rest of the day.

That evening, they went to the rehearsal dinner. It was a lovely dinner, and it was only marred by Bill's introduction to Michael, Karen's ex-husband. However, it was very brief, as both men knew that they didn't want to spend more time than necessary with the other. Bill wasn't about to waste any extra energy trying to get along with Karen's ex if he didn't have to.

The next day was the big day. Bill and Karen awoke at what seemed to be the crack of dawn to dress and head over to the church. Here, the scene was that of hectic members of the wedding party running all over, trying to ensure that everyone would be in the right place at the right time. Karen first visited Caroline, her soon-to-be daughter-in-law, wishing her the best. Then, she made her way to find Ryan. Karen found him in one of the back rooms of the church. She somewhat timidly knocked and entered to be greeted by a slightly paler Ryan surrounded by his groomsmen.

"How are you doing?" Karen asked Ryan as she hugged him in greeting.

"Fine. Nervous, but excited," he answered. Karen smiled at him.

"That's the way it should be," she answered, smirking. "You'll be fine," she said, her tone turning more serious. Ryan looked as if he couldn't speak, and Karen only adjusted his tie a little, smiling somewhat sadly. "My son, getting married," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else. Ryan frowned.

"You're not going to cry on me here, are you Mom?" he asked concernedly.

"Oh no, I'm saving that for during the ceremony," Karen said lightly, a twinkle in her eye. At this, the best man entered the room, and Karen said a quick goodbye to her son before leaving to find Bill and take their seats in the sanctuary.

The service was a beautiful one. Karen did, indeed, have tears in her eyes much of the time, but Bill took her hand and held it reassuringly, which soothed her. Before she knew it, the ceremony was over and they were whisked away to the reception at the local country club, of which the Bradleys were members. The dinner was excellent, and the evening passed in a blur until the music began. Ryan pulled Caroline out onto the dance floor, and everyone gathered to watch. After the first dance, other couples started filtering out onto the dance floor. Bill finally pulled a reluctant Karen out onto the floor.

"You're the mother of the groom," he told her pointedly. "Now I'm no expert at wedding etiquette, but I think you're supposed to at least put in an appearance on the dance floor."

"I hate dancing," Karen muttered.

"Well," Bill started, "maybe you've just been dancing with the wrong people." He took one of her hands in his and placed his other hand on her waist, pulling her close to him. Karen sighed, breathing in the intoxicating scent of his aftershave.

"Maybe," she mumbled. They spent a while dancing and socializing with others, both hardly leaving the other's side. It wasn't until a little while later that her mood was disturbed when Michael approached the couple, separating them before they knew it.

"You don't mind if I have a dance with the mother of my son, do you?" he asked Bill in a tone of voice that said that he wasn't going to care if Bill said "Yes" to that question. Bill looked at Karen, whose look assured him that she would handle this on her own.

"Of course not," Bill said forcibly. Exchanging a final look with Karen, who nodded to him, Bill left to sit down at their table. Once Bill was out of view, Karen rounded on Michael, who was leading her onto the dance floor.

"What do you want, Michael?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I just wanted to talk," he stated calmly. "And it didn't seem like you were ever going to give me a chance by breaking yourself away from your date, so I figured I'd have to break you two apart myself if I was going to be able to talk to you."

"How thoughtful," Karen muttered sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Karen," he said. "We haven't talked since-"

"Since you signed the divorce papers," Karen finished quickly.

"Yes." There was a heavy pause in the air.

"So, is there something in particular that you want to talk about?"

"I'm not sure I've been completely satisfied with how things turned out between us," Michael said. Karen sighed. She had been afraid that this was what he was going to say.

"Well, I have been happy," she told him firmly. "Very happy." Michael frowned, looking over at Bill before looking back to Karen.

"Happy with what's-his-name over there? Mr. Government Agent?" At this, Karen could feel her temper start to flare.

"Don't you dare bring Bill into this," she hissed quietly. Michael rolled his eyes.

"You know, I hate to say this," he said in a voice that seemed to suggest that he really enjoyed saying what he was, "but he's the reason there is a 'this.'" At this point, Karen knew this conversation needed to be held off of the dance floor. She stepped away from Michael and motioned for him to follow her.

"We need to talk somewhere else," she whispered angrily as he followed her outside. She noticed Bill talking to her brothers, and his eyes quickly connected with hers. She gave him an I'll-explain-later look to which he nodded and returned to his conversation. Once Karen and Michael had made it outside, they looked around, ensuring that they would not be overheard. Immediately, Karen rounded on Michael.

"Let's get a few things straight here," she hissed at him. "We are no longer married and I'm happy with it that way."

"Because of Bill," Michael interrupted. Karen's anger flared again.

"This has nothing to do with Bill," she snapped. "In case you've forgotten, we have been happily separated for over four years, divorced for one. Just because I've decided to move on doesn't mean that he's the reason it never worked between us." Michael decided to change his tactics.

"Please, Karen, it's obvious that you've having some trouble getting over our divorce," he said softly. Karen looked so livid that she couldn't speak, allowing Michael to continue. "I understand. After we signed the papers, you needed someone to be with. I'm sure Bill was good to you. But now I can be there if you just give me one more chance."

"One more chance?" Karen cried. "I don't _want_ to give you one more chance! I really don't want anything to do with you. We've been separated for four years, and at the first sight of me with another man, you immediately want to work things out? I'm sorry, but you're four years too late."

"Karen-" Michael started only to be interrupted.

"No," Karen cut in firmly. "And I'm not going to change my mind." There was a thick silence in the air as Michael seemed to realize this defeat. This realization seemed to float through the air, at which point, all animosity between the two seemed to dissipate.

"So it's really over," he stated, more to himself than Karen, but she nodded.

"Yes," she said quietly. "It's over." Michael took a deep breath, as if trying to clear it all from his system.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this," he muttered.

"Me too," Karen said sincerely. She might love Bill more than she had ever loved Michael, but she had never wanted to hurt her ex-husband. Michael nodded and, without another word, left to return to the reception. Karen stood outside alone for a second, contemplating what had just happened. That was it; her marriage was over.

For the first couple of years of their separation, Karen had harbored a secret hope that Michael would call her one day and ask for another chance. That he would say he had been wrong and that they could work it out and be together if she would have him. Even as they were going through their divorce, Karen had hoped beyond hope that they might get back to the way their relationship was when they were first married. However, meeting Bill had changed everything. Now, she didn't want any part of her failed marriage. Now, she harbored the secret hope that, instead of fixing her old marriage, she would be able to move forward into a new one.

Karen took a steadying breath before returning inside to the reception. Bill soon appeared in front of her, looking concerned.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked quietly. Karen nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said dismissively. When Bill still looked concerned, Karen shook her head. "I just had to… clear a few things up with Michael. I think he understands where we are now." Bill nodded and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead, taking her hand in his.

"Come on, let's dance," he said, nodding his head towards the dancing couples. Karen smiled gratefully up at him before following him out to the dance floor. They spent much of the rest of the evening this way, happily enjoying each others' company. Michael seemed to make a point of avoiding both of them, which suited them perfectly.

Before they knew it, Ryan and Caroline were getting ready to leave. The music stopped, and Caroline stood on a table near the front of the room, getting ready to toss her bouquet. Even though she was single, Karen didn't feel like she needed to be a part of this tradition. She casually hung around the back of the crowd, letting the younger women near the front scramble for the best positions.

Caroline turned around so that her back was facing the crowd. She was so small that no one expected her to be able to throw the flowers very far. However, as if to prove them wrong, she threw them as hard as she could backwards. The bouquet was quickly launched at an unsuspecting Karen, who threw her arms up to protect herself from the flowered-projectile. Before she could register what had happened, Karen saw the bouquet of flowers in her hand and realized that the people around her were clapping.

"You know what that means, Mom!" Ryan called from the front of the room. A murmur of laughter coursed through the crowd at the slightly embarrassed look on Karen's face. As the other women dispersed, Karen retreated back to Bill, who was grinning. He wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a brief kiss on her lips.

"Nice job, sweetheart," he said. Karen only shook her head.

"I might deserve some congratulations if it hadn't been an act of pure self-defense," she explained, looking down at the flowers. "Still," she said looking back up at Bill. "No pressure or anything." Bill smiled and kissed her again, slightly longer this time.

"No pressure at all," he whispered.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's a short little random chapter in between two larger ones. I realized after I wrote this that it probably would have been more effective as a one-shot, but whatever, it's here now. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

As a general rule, Bill did not like parties. He could handle them, and sometimes he even managed to enjoy himself. However, he usually tried to make an effort to get out of them. With the holidays approaching, his party-dodging ability was put to the test by the reams of holiday office party invitations he received.

Bill was first able to avoid the CTU party by leaving work extra early. Next, he managed to wiggle out of the party at Division by calling Hammond the night of the party and telling him that he had to catch up on a lot of work and he needed to stay at the office late. However, when Karen asked him to come with her to the formal holiday dinner party at Homeland, he quickly agreed.

"I never tagged you as the type to enjoy these kinds of things," he commented as they drove over to the hotel where this was going to be held.

"And I never tagged you as the type to completely detest these kinds of things," Karen teased. "But seriously, I'm the Division Director. I think there's some rule in the books that I have to come to these things."

"Hmm." Bill was silent for a minute. "How long do we have to stay?" he asked, trying his best to be casual. Karen rolled her eyes.

"You really can't stand these things, can you?" Karen asked, clearly amused.

"No, I really can't. I'm glad you caught on," Bill replied tersely. "I'm not even sure why I'm doing this."

At this, Karen reached a hand over and slid it up and down Bill's arm. "I think I can think of a couple good reasons," she purred. Her hand continued its journey up to his shoulder and ran itself through the silver hair on the side of his head. Bill's mind immediately started swirling and he didn't know what to do. If she continued this, he was likely to crash the car. But damn, he didn't want to tell her to stop.

Karen grinned as she watched him struggle. However, deciding that she would rather make it to this party alive, she stopped her teasing and her hand traveled back down his arm until it found his hand on the wheel. Bill released the wheel and instead grasped Karen's hand, which he held until they arrived at the hotel.

They entered the hotel, and Karen was soon swarmed by co-workers, all wishing her happy holidays and asking how she was doing. Bill introduced himself as the director of CTU Los Angeles, though there was clearly something more between the two bureaucrats. None of the Karen's co-workers questioned it, however, and Bill and Karen left it that way. They didn't want to be too over-the-top in presenting their relationship to their co-workers.

"Did you see those looks that woman was giving us?" Bill commented to Karen as they approached their seats at their assigned dinner table. "There will probably be hundreds of rumors about us flying around your office by Monday morning." Karen only shrugged.

"Let them gossip," she said. "I look forward to hearing what kinds of wild rumors they can come up with."

"Is that really what you want them to do?" Bill asked carefully.

"Yes," Karen replied stubbornly. Without another word, Bill stopped Karen, pulled her up against him, and kissed her full on the mouth. Before Karen could get over her surprise, Bill had pulled away and was escorting her to her seat.

"What was that for?" she demanded as he took the seat next to her. Bill grinned wickedly.

"That'll give them something to talk about," he explained. "Maybe now they can come up with some really good rumors for you."

"About me, you mean," she pointed out.

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted them to gossip."

The dinner passed enjoyably enough, or at least, it was as enjoyable as these types of parties got. By the end of the dinner, however, Bill was dying to get away from that table. He told Karen that he was going outside to get some fresh air and excused himself from the table. He exited the room, and breathed in the freedom of the hallway. He would admit it, he was having a better time with Karen than he would at anything like this without her, but he still could hardly stand these parties. As he was contemplating how he could pull Karen away from the party early, the door to the ballroom opened and a familiar face emerged.

"Chloe?" Bill asked, unsure what the analyst was doing here. She looked over and saw Bill, surveying him with the same questioning look that he was giving her.

"Mr. Buchanan? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he commented, dodging her question. He hadn't been counting on revealing his relationship with Karen to _his_ co-workers tonight, too.

"Well, Morris has done a lot of freelancing for a friend of his at Homeland over the years, and this friend invited him tonight to thank him. He invited me because he apparently thought it would be fun for us to go together," Chloe huffed. Bill shuddered inwardly. This wasn't his idea of fun, but he could imagine that it was even worse for Chloe. "What about you? Why are you here?" Chloe asked Bill. Bill considered for a moment how to answer it.

"I'm here with someone, too," he replied carefully.

"What, you mean like you're on a date?" Chloe asked, sounding mortified at the thought of running into her boss while he was on a date.

"I guess you could call it that," he told her. Then, as if on cue, the door to the ballroom opened again, this time to reveal Karen.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Karen said, approaching Bill.

"Hey, I was about to come back inside," Bill told her. He turned back to Chloe, whose face betrayed her surprise. "Chloe, you remember Karen Hayes, right?"

"Of course," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Hi," she greeted Karen somewhat awkwardly.

"Hello Chloe. Nice to see you again," Karen replied pleasantly. Chloe stood there for a moment, not sure what to do next.

"Well, I'm going to go find Morris," she said before leaving the two of them alone. As she closed the door, Karen turned to Bill.

"What is Chloe doing here?" she asked curiously.

"Morris managed to get an invitation somehow. She got dragged into coming," Bill replied.

"And you thought you were having a bad time," Karen said.

"I know, I can't imagine how she's even surviving this," Bill sighed, trying to bring back the point of his own suffering. Karen rolled her eyes at this.

"Poor you," she said without an ounce of actual sympathy in her voice. "How _do_ you survive?"

"It isn't easy, let me tell you."

"I'm sure it's not," Karen said, shaking her head. "Well, listen, the dinner is about over. We could probably go home soon." Bill grinned and stepped a little closer to Karen.

"That is the best news I have heard all night," he told her. Karen smiled warmly, taking his hand in hers.

"Thank you for coming," she told Bill earnestly. He squeezed her hand.

"You know I would do anything for you," Bill said seriously. "Even come to these ridiculous parties." At this, Karen's heart leapt, and she could hardly believe that she could be lucky enough to find someone as wonderful as Bill. She was suddenly at a loss for words.

"Thank you," was the only thing she could think of. "For everything."

**TBC**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the second-to-last chapter! I hope you like it :D**

**Chapter 13**

It was decided that, since they had just recently spent time with Karen's family, Bill and Karen would spend Christmas in Connecticut with Bill's family. They would spend several days there with Bill's father, his brother, and his sister. They would then go into New York City until New Year's for the visit Bill had suggested during their first date. They spent the next few weeks making plans, and Karen seemed to be faring about the same at the prospect of meeting Bill's family as she had at introducing him to hers. The flight to New York and the resulting drive to Connecticut passed much in the same way as the trip to Baltimore had earlier in the month. This time, however, Bill wasn't nearly as nervous. He was more excited than anything, and he couldn't wait for his family to meet Karen.

Bill's father, Frank, lived in a small retirement community not far from where Bill had grown up. At the moment, he was living independently in his own condo, but there was an assisted living facility as part of the same establishment, a comfort to all three of the Buchanan children. Bill and Karen arrived at Frank's condo late that afternoon. Frank answered the door, and was introduced to Karen. Suddenly, however, a small mass of blond curls came barreling towards Bill.

"Uncle Bill, Uncle Bill!" the little girl cried. Bill bent down and opened his arms, lifting the girl up as she collided with him. She wrapped her arms firmly around Bill's neck in a tight hug.

"Here's my little girl," Bill grinned. At this, the girl backed her face away from her uncle's neck and pouted.

"I'm not little, Uncle Bill," she informed him. He smiled and tousled her hair.

"Of course not. How silly of me," he corrected. At this, three adults entered the room to welcome Bill and Karen. Bill, still holding his niece, introduced Karen to his brother, Andy; his sister, Liz; and Andy's wife, Lori. All three greeted Karen warmly, happy that Bill had finally found someone he cared about enough to bring home.

"And this one right here," Bill said, motioning to the little girl in his arms, "Is Emma."

"Hi Emma, I'm Karen," Karen replied, smiling kindly. Emma, instead of replying to Karen, turned to Bill instead.

"Are you married, Uncle Bill?" she asked innocently. Bill smiled and shook his head.

"No, I'm not," he told her.

"Why not?" Immediately, Emma's mother, Lori, spoke up.

"Okay Emma, that's enough. Why don't you go in the other room with your sister and cousins?" Bill set his niece down, and she ran over to Karen, hugging her around Karen's knees before running off again. The little girl's act of affection made Karen smile, and she turned to greet the rest of Bill's family.

"Sorry about her," Lori was apologizing.

"Don't worry about it," Bill said. Although his face had colored slightly at the question, he seemed to have regained his composure. "She's cute. She can get away with it." Everyone laughed, and the rest of the Buchanans started their own interrogation of the couple, asking about the flight over and how long they were staying. Before they knew it, Karen, Liz, and Lori were in a deep conversation about what Liz and Lori had been planning for Christmas dinner, and Bill was being dragged off to play a game with his nieces and nephews. Relief flooded over Karen as Bill's family seemed to welcome her right into them without question.

It wasn't until a half an hour later that Karen found Bill sitting cross-legged on the floor in the living room, concentrating on the Scrabble board in front of him. She sat down on the couch in front of the game and studied the proceedings. It seemed that Scrabble was the only game that the four children could agree on. They had split into teams of two, leaving Bill to be the odd man out. They split so that the youngest in one family was paired with the oldest in the other family, thus keeping siblings apart and, so they thought, keeping the knowledge spread out evenly. However, Olivia and Zach, who were 8 and 9, respectively, seemed to be blowing everyone away. Connor and Emma were next, but at 11 and 4, they were hardly evenly matched. Bill seemed to be coming in last, a fact which all four of the children took joy in pointing out. At the moment, Olivia and Zach were whispering with their heads bent over the dictionary as they planned their next move. Finally they laid their tiles out on the board.

"'Zoeas?'" Bill asked, scrutinizing their word. "What on earth is that?" They laughed at their uncle's bewildered face. Olivia looked back down at the dictionary and started to read off the definition.

"'A free-swimming, plan… plank…'" she struggled before Zach cut in, taking the dictionary from her.

"'A free-swimming, planktonic larval form of many deca…'" at this point, he too trailed off, unsure of the next word. Bill frowned and reached over to look at the dictionary.

"Let me see that," he muttered, grabbing the dictionary. "'A free-swimming, planktonic larval form of many decapod crustaceans especially crabs that has a relatively large cephalothorax, conspicuous eyes, and fringed antennae and mouthparts,'" he read before looking back up at the two giggling children. "And do either of you know what that means?" he asked critically. They only burst into more laughter.

"It doesn't matter; it's a word, Uncle Bill!" Olivia told him through giggles. "We were going to do 'zoo,' but that one was a better z word." Bill sighed.

"We just talked about this- you can't go looking through the dictionary for words every time it's your turn. You're supposed to use words you know," he said.

"But Uncle Bill, you used the word 'schematic.' What is that supposed to mean?" Zach asked curiously.

"It's like… it's like a plan for a building," Bill explained. Zach raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"It doesn't sound like a word to me," he said in a sing-song voice. The other three children nodded in their agreement.

"It is a word!" Bill defended. He motioned to the dictionary. "Should I look it up for you?"

"You can't look for words in the dictionary when it's your turn, Uncle Bill. You're supposed to use words you know," Connor said, repeating Bill's earlier words. Bill opened his mouth to respond, but he didn't know what to say. The four children laughed and Bill grudgingly agreed to let 'zoeas' stay. Karen couldn't help but smile at them.

Emma, with the full attention span of a four-year-old, quickly tired of the boring word game and decided to find out more about this woman who showed up with her uncle. She quickly abandoned her cousin in his vain attempt to top 'zoeas' and clambered up onto the couch next to Karen. Without waiting for a greeting, Emma immediately spoke up.

"Hi," she said to Karen, who was taken aback slightly by the little girl's forwardness.

"Hi Emma," Karen replied. "Don't you want to play the game with your cousins?"

"No," Emma replied frowning. "I can't spell." Before Karen could come up with something to say to that, Emma blurted out, "Are you my aunt?" Although no one but Karen could tell it, Bill's attention had suddenly split between the game at hand and Karen's conversation.

"Do you want me to be your aunt?" Karen asked. The little girl nodded. "Then you can call me Aunt Karen." Emma smiled and attempted to wrap her arms around Karen in a hug.

"I love you, Aunt Karen," she told her simply. Karen couldn't help but smile at this girl's love.

"I love you too, Emma," she said. At that moment, Lori entered the room and asked Emma if she wanted to help make Christmas cookies. The little girl immediately bounded off to help her mother. Karen couldn't help but catch Bill's eye as he placed his next word on the board. He gave her the slightest of smiles before his attention had to be brought back to Scrabble.

Later that evening when Bill and Karen had left the rest of the Buchanans and returned to their hotel to retire for the night, Bill found that he couldn't sleep. Karen's introduction to his family kept replaying in his mind. He could hardly believe how well it had gone, only confirming in his mind the feeling he had been getting for a while. Finally, Bill gave up on sleeping and decided to get up.

Bill carefully extracted himself from their bed, making sure not to wake Karen in the process. She shifted a little, adjusting to the new position, but her eyes remained firmly closed. He grinned as she wrapped her arm around his pillow and sleepily murmured his name. God, why did she have to be so adorable sometimes?

He shook his head and pulled on some clothes and shoes. He quickly jotted Karen a note and placed it on the bedside table in case she woke up while he was gone. Nodding in satisfaction at his handiwork, he grabbed a small box and the room key from his jacket before leaving the room to head downstairs.

As Bill reached the lobby, he sat down on one of the couches there, enjoying the relative silence of the hotel at night. After a minute, he looked down at the small, black box in his hand and opened it, studying its contents. The ring was a fairly simple one, with one lone diamond set in a 24 karat gold band. Bill tilted it a little, letting the light play off of the stone.

"Bill?" asked a familiar female voice behind him. Bill jumped and shut the box, snapping his head around to find his sister, Liz, approaching him curiously.

"Liz? What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the same place as Andy across town," Bill asked, trying to stuff the ring box out of sight. Liz only shrugged.

"The boys wanted to stay in a place with a pool," she said in explanation. She sat down on the couch next to him and studied him curiously. "What are you doing down here so late?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, intentionally dodging the question. Liz held up a Styrofoam cup with a steaming hot liquid inside.

"Our coffee maker up in the room is broken," she told him. "Besides, Connor snores louder than any person I've ever heard. It's almost impossible to get to sleep once he's out." Bill smiled, but made no reply. After a moment of silence, Liz persisted. "So, what was it that made you jump about a foot in the air?"

"Nothing," Bill lied. "I just thought that I was alone."

"You know, for someone in law enforcement, you are probably the worst liar I know," Liz informed him, still receiving silence from Bill. "All right, fine, you don't want to talk about it. We'll talk about something else," Liz said, pausing for a moment as she considered her next move. "I'm really glad you brought Karen home to meet us. She seems like a great person."

"I'm glad you liked her. The way you all accepted her means the world to me," Bill said.

"What's not to accept? She seems perfect for you, and seeing you happy is all that I care about," Liz told her brother. "So, let's examine this. I like her, and obviously you like her. How long is it going to be until you pop the question?" Bill only stared at her with his mouth slightly agape, to which she smiled.

"I'm your sister, Bill. I know you pretty well by now," Liz informed him in explanation. Bill shook his head and looked at her curiously.

"Am I really that obvious?" he asked. Liz nodded.

"Yep." Bill paused, considering his options for a moment. Finally, he turned to her.

"Can you keep a secret?" Liz rolled her eyes at this question.

"Who was it that never told Mom or Dad about the speeding ticket you got a week after getting your license?" she asked exasperatedly. "Or about the time you met that girl, Sally what's-her-name, in the city, and then came home past your curfew at one o'clock in the morning? And who covered up for you when you borrowed the car that summer that you were back from Brown and you smashed right through the garage door? And what about the time-"

"Okay, okay, I get it, all right?" Bill said, somewhat annoyed. "Here, look at this." He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and showed it to Liz, whose eyes widened upon seeing it. She took the box from him and slowly opened it to study the contents.

"Bill, it's beautiful," she told him seriously. "I'm sure Karen will love it." She handed him back the box, which he re-pocketed. "When are you going to do it?" she asked again.

"I don't know," Bill told her honestly. "I mean, I love her so much, Liz. I know this is what I want. I just-" He sighed, not entirely sure what he was trying to say. "I just want it to be perfect. And I want her to say yes. I don't want to do something stupid and blow it and have her say no." Liz frowned at her older brother.

"Bill Buchanan, you listen to me," she said sternly. "I have only seen you two together for less than twelve hours, and even I can tell that she would never say no. In fact, had I not known any better, I would have thought that you two were already married. If you could see the way you two look at each other, you'd know what I'm talking about. So I want you to stop worrying about what she's going to say, because I can already tell you that the answer will be yes."

"Yes ma'am," he said, only half-pretending to be serious. Liz wasn't amused.

"I'm serious," was all she said, giving him a stern look. Bill dropped the joking tone.

"All right. I won't worry about that," Bill told her in what he hoped was a convincing tone.

"Good," said Liz. "Now, about you worrying about it being perfect, just know this- she's not going to care. What will matter the most to her will be being able to be with you, not how you ask her. So, my advice is this: just do it whenever the time feels right. You could take her out to dinner or something if you want to, but just do it."

"How am I supposed to know if the time feels right?" he asked worriedly. Liz smiled.

"You'll know," she said mysteriously. Bill only sat there in silence, unsure of how that was going to help him. After a moment, Liz looked at the clock in the lobby. "Well, I should probably get back to my room. Maybe Connor has stopped his indecently loud snoring." Liz reached over and gave her brother a hug. "Don't worry about anything. It's going to be fine," she assured him as she pulled away.

"Thanks, Lizzy," Bill said sincerely. Liz only smiled at him.

"Don't mention it." Liz got up to leave, but before she did, she turned back to face Bill one last time. "Just don't forget to call after she says yes. I want to know when my older brother is finally going to get married." A large grin broke out across Bill's face.

"I will be sure to let you know," he assured her. "And Liz," he called. She turned around to face him. "Have you known this entire time what was on my mind?" Liz only gave him an all-knowing smile.

"Like I said, Bill, I know you pretty well at this point. 'Night." Bill could only stare in slight disbelief as Liz disappeared around the corner to her room.

Bill soon made his way back to his room, making sure to enter quietly so as not to wake Karen. He quickly replaced the ring box in his jacket, got rid of the note he had written, and stripped down to his boxers and a tee shirt. He had to remove Karen's arm from around his pillow, which she seemed to have latched on to in his absence. She stirred a little as he crawled between the sheets next to her.

"Bill?" she muttered drowsily, her eyes opening a fraction of an inch. Bill wrapped his arms around her protectively and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"I'm here, sweetheart," he murmured softly. "Go back to sleep." Karen's eyes closed again as she settled herself against Bill.

"Love you," she mumbled sleepily before falling asleep again. Bill grinned as sleep threatened to overcome him too.

"I love you too, Karen," he whispered before falling into a content sleep.

**TBC**


	14. Chapter 14

**And here it is- the final chapter! I said that I would have this done by the end of the year- nothing like cutting it close, right? As always, read and please review at the end!**

**Dedicated to take5, Huddyalways-24-BK-MA, and twentyfour.mad for getting me through this, sticking with me, and at times forcing me to keep going with it. :D You guys are awesome.**

**Chapter 14**

Christmas day came and went in a happy blur of food, presents, and family. Before they knew it, Bill and Karen were leaving the rest of the Buchanans and departing to New York City, where they would spend the rest of their vacation.

"How did you manage to get so much time off?" Karen inquired curiously as they drove down to the city.

"That's a trade secret, sweetheart," he answered cryptically. Karen rolled her eyes.

"You just had a lot of vacation time saved up that you were going to lose if you didn't use it, didn't you?" she asked. Bill shrugged.

"Maybe."

"You're no better than me," she muttered, looking back out the window at the passing scenery. Karen had been able to take the week off because it turned out that she still had nearly her entire year's worth of vacation time left. She had used one day the day after the nerve gas attacks and two days for Ryan's wedding, but that had been it.

"And that," Bill said, drawing Karen's attention back to him, "is why I love you so much." Karen smiled, trying to hide how much this statement pleased her.

"That was a pretty good line," she said casually.

"I try."

"I know."

"It's true, though."

"What?"

"That I love you." Karen's grin widened.

"I knew that, too," she assured him before turning her attention back to the scenery.

For the next few days, Bill showed Karen around New York as they did everything from seeing the Statue of Liberty to going to see a show on Broadway. Bill decided that he was going to propose to Karen on New Year's Eve, and he booked a reservation at a nice restaurant for that night. With nothing to do but sit and wait for that evening to come, Bill found that he was much more jittery and distant than normal.

"Are you okay?" Karen finally asked one day during lunch as she caught Bill's mind wandering. He jerked out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine," he assured her. Though she didn't appear completely satisfied, Karen let the issue drop, not asking Bill about it again.

Around the middle of the week, Bill decided to take Karen to Little Italy for New York style pizza for lunch. He took her to Lombardi's, home of the original New York style pizza.

"Well, this is it," Bill pronounced motioning to what appeared to be a normal pizzeria. "This is the birthplace of New York style pizza."

"This is it?" Karen asked, slightly surprised. Bill nodded.

"Sure is. It might not look like much, but this is where it all began." The couple entered the restaurant and ordered two slices of pizza. They quickly received their pizza and sat down in one of the booths. As Karen folded her piece down the middle to eat it, she grinned over at Bill.

"Look, I even remember how to eat it," she stated proudly. "You see? I was paying attention at our first date." Bill chuckled.

"I was paying attention too, but not to how you were eating your pizza," he told her mischievously. Karen gasped jokingly.

"Why, Mr. Buchanan," she said in a voice that sounded scandalized. Her serious air was immediately broken, however, as a smile crept across her face. Bill returned the smile.

"No one ever said that Mr. Buchanan had to be all work and no play all the time," he said.

"And thank God for that," Karen returned, raising her glass of soda in a toast. "Here's to not being professional all the time."

"Hear, hear," Bill replied, raising his glad to hers. They each took a sip of their drink before Karen spoke again.

"Of course, it's probably best that you're as professional as you are whenever you're at work. I don't think anyone at CTU would know what to do if you were casual."

"That would be an interesting experiment to try one day," Bill commented. Karen frowned, a sign that she was deep in thought.

"Now that I think about it, they probably don't know what to do without you there," she observed. "I mean, how many times have they ever had to go a day without you? Once? Twice? They're probably beside themselves with boredom."

"I don't know, I always pictured them beside themselves with happiness," Bill said. "You know, the usual 'the boss is gone, now it's time to party' reaction." Karen looked at him disbelievingly.

"Because I'm sure all of those government agents are such party animals," she said sarcastically. "I always thought that Chloe would be a wild one at a party."

"Point taken," Bill replied evenly. From there, the meal passed pleasantly as they discussed places they wanted to go that afternoon.

"Can we go to Central Park?" Karen asked. "I'd really love to just take it easy for the rest of the afternoon, but a walk would be great."

"Of course." They quickly finished their meal and took the subway to Central Park. Before they knew it, they found themselves walking down one of the many paths that wound through the park. A soft layer of white powder covered the park and thick snowflakes continued to fall, giving it an almost surreal appearance. Bill wrapped an arm around Karen's shoulders, pulling her close to his side. She reciprocated by putting her arm around his waist. They walked in a contented silence, both simply enjoying being in the presence of the other. After several minutes, Karen sighed.

"I love the snow," she said. "That's probably the one thing I miss from living in DC. We never had much, but the snow we did get was beautiful."

"I know I've never mentioned this," said Bill carefully. "But my family owns a house up in Vermont. It's technically my father's, but he isn't able to get up there any more. If you want, we could go up there for a few days some time."

"I'd love that," Karen said, grinning. They walked for a while, sometimes talking and sometimes just enjoying being with each other. At one point, Karen reached down to pick up a handful of snow that was on the ground, packing it into a ball. Bill eyed the snowball warily as it took shape. Karen grinned wickedly at Bill, and realization crossed his face.

"Don't you dare," he told her.

"Or what?" she asked. Before he could answer, Karen chucked the snowball at him, hitting him squarely in the face. Bill sputtered and wiped the snow off of his face, only to see Karen doubled over in laughter. "If only CTU could see their mighty director now," she teased in between laughs. Bill frowned.

"You think that's funny, do you?" he asked.

"Pretty funny, yeah," Karen replied evenly. Without another word, Bill scooped Karen up in his arms, eliciting a shriek from Karen.

"Bill Buchanan, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she cried. Bill said nothing and carried her over to a large snow bank. The pile of snow was probably three feet tall, and it was all the new powder that had been scooped off of the paths. Despite Karen's protests, Bill unceremoniously dropped her into the pile, effectively covering her in snow. He laughed at her annoyed face.

"You think that's funny, do you?" she now asked.

"Pretty funny, yeah," he said, echoing her response just moments prior. Taking pity on Karen as she struggled out of the pile of snow, he offered her a hand. "Here," he said, extending his hand. Karen took it and pulled hard on it, jerking Bill down next to her in the snow. She gave Bill a satisfied smirk as he started dusting the snow off of him.

"You had to get the last word, didn't you?" he asked sourly. She shrugged.

"All's fair in love and war," she said.

"And which one is this?" Karen grinned and moved closer to Bill.

"You tell me," she whispered, her face now only inches from Bill's. He smiled and placed a brief kiss on her lips.

"All right, you win," he conceded. With that, the snow-covered couple got up from their places in the snow pile and continued walking. Overcome with a rush of affection for the man at her side, Karen leaned into Bill and sighed.

"I love you, Bill," she told him. Bill tightened his arm around her and kissed the side of her face.

"I know, and I love you too. Even if you throw snowballs at me at pull me into snow piles, I'll still love you." A smile broke across Karen's face at this.

"Excellent, so I can get away with more of that you mean?"

"No, I'd prefer it if you didn't," he replied seriously. Karen only grinned smugly.

"But I've got you wrapped around here," she said, holding up her pinky finger teasingly. "So whether you'd prefer it or not, you're going to love me anyway."

"You're sure it's this finger?" Bill asked, grinning as he tugged on her left pinky. Karen raised a slightly amused eyebrow and nodded.

"Pretty sure," she replied. Bill moved his hand and pointed to her left ring finger.

"So who have you got wrapped around that one?" he asked, his tone slightly playful, but inside, his nerves were going crazy.

"No one," Karen replied simply. "That one's reserved."

"For who?"

"For someone who doesn't mind being wrapped around my finger for a very long time." Bill stopped walking and reached into his jacket pocket. Karen also halted, curiously considering Bill's actions. She gasped as he pulled out a little black box.

"Well, I've been thinking," Bill started, opening the box and taking the ring out, "that maybe," he slid the ring onto Karen's finger, "you'd let me be that someone." He finished and looked up at Karen, where tears were glistening in the corners of her eyes. "Karen Hayes, I love you more than I ever thought possible. Will you marry me?" Karen looked down at the ring on her finger, and then back up at Bill. A huge grin split across her face.

"Yes, of course I'll marry you!" she cried, trying to wipe the tears that were falling from her eyes. Bill smiled and enveloped Karen in his arms. His embrace was so strong that he lifted her off of the ground a few inches, eliciting a slight shriek from Karen. Bill quickly returned her to the ground.

"Sorry," he whispered, resting his forehead on hers and still grinning uncontrollably.

"Don't worry about it," Karen said before leaning forward and capturing his lips in a long, loving kiss. Bill's hand came around to support the back of her head, running his fingers through the golden strands of her hair. When they finally broke apart for air, Bill took Karen's hand in his and studied the ring on her finger.

"If you had told me four months ago when you came into CTU that night that we would be engaged by the end of the year, I would have thought you were crazy," Bill said, smirking.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that first impressions don't always last," replied Karen evenly. "Thank goodness that there's always more to a person than initially meets the eye." Bill drew Karen close, wrapping his arm around her and pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Thank goodness, indeed."

**The End**

**_A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has read this and every single person who took the time to write a review. It has meant the world to me and every single review that I read motivated me to keep going with this. Thank you!_**


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